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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635312">Missing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CircularCreations/pseuds/CircularCreations'>CircularCreations</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Missing AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aftermath of Violence, Amity Blight Angst, Angst, Blood and Violence, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Luz Noceda Angst, Missing AU (The Owl House), Rescue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:08:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>30,378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635312</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CircularCreations/pseuds/CircularCreations</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Amity finds that Luz hasn't been answering her phone for a few hours, and when she goes to check on her, she finds something disturbing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight/Luz Noceda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Missing AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000782</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>469</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Offline</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! This is my first ever story on here, I was inspired by other stories, so I wanted to give it a shot</p>
<p>I hope most of you enjoy this, I know I'll have fun with this story as a side project to other things I'm doing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>She hasn't answered yet.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It's been about 5 hours.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She should've responded by then. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She has to be okay…</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Right? </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>This was the 5th time in the day that Amity started thinking bad again. Hours before, her and Luz were having a conversation on Penstagram, chatting about what just happened with the Emperor and Eda and everything else. Luz explained to her that she managed to take on a lot of guards and even the emperor, and managed to save Eda's life, but it cost her destroying the portal to the human realm. </p><p> </p><p>Amity felt a pang of pain course through her blood. She knew that must've been a tough decision for Luz to make. With no way to get back to her world, luz has no idea if and when she'll be back home. Although Luz tried to brush it off as just another obstacle she can overthrow, she can tell even through the text that the girl was in pain from the thought of possibly never seeing her world again. Amity also thought about Luz's mother. Luz had to be worried about her. Her mother doesn't even know she's here, now Luz is missing from home. Amity couldn't imagine that as a good thought for Luz either.</p><p> </p><p>At a certain point of chatting, Luz went silent, and eventually her profile went offline. </p><p> </p><p>Amity hasn't heard from her when she suddenly went offline hours ago. At first, she didn't think that much of it. After all, the girl just went through so much in the past 24 hours, surely she had a lot on her mind, and on her hands, as now Lilith and Eda can't perform magic on their own.</p><p> </p><p>But as the hours passed by, the more fear gripped onto Amity's subconscious for the girl's well being. As someone who faced off the Emperor and lived, Amity knew that Luz was a wanted person, and she knew the emperor would throw whatever he could just to get her, and everyone in the Owl House. She tried very hard to give it the benefit of the doubt, but hours passed, and that thought became extremely hard to put off. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Frustrated and scared, Amity had enough of theorizing. Any more of it and she would've gone insane in that bed. Grabbing her crutch next to her bed, she pulled herself up and proceeded to the door. Even though her doctor said that being in bed was the best for her to heal, she wasn't gonna let fear take her over all day long. She wanted answers, so she was gonna check in on Luz and co at the Owl House and verify that they were fine.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>At least that's what she wanted to think.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Surprisingly, she was able to get out of the house very easily. Usually she would've been caught by her siblings or her parents before she would've been able to get far. More so now because of her broken leg, but no one spotted her. She figured everyone was busy with their own agendas. Not that she cared about, although she did make a mental note to be quick. She didn't want her sibling, or her parents questioning her about being out of bed. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The Manor to the Owl House wasn't a long walk in of itself, but because of her leg, it did take a little longer to traverse the ground. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>During the walk, Amity started thinking again, thinking about Luz. She couldn't shake the thought away of her being in trouble or hurt. It pained her at the constant thought that Luz was possibly in danger. Ever since their encounter up on the Knee, Amity started seeing Luz more positively, and was more open to her. Then Amity's attempt at erasing Willow's memories of her, and the work she and Luz had to do to fix her memory. As much as it pained her, seeing all the damage she caused, the indirect and voluntary damage, she had Luz by her side, motivating her to push forwards. </p><p> </p><p>Grom then happened and Amity started feeling for the human much more than before. She knew that she was being obvious, she knew that there were people that possibly saw it too. She was surprised, but also thankful that Luz hasn't caught on yet. As much as Amity likes Luz, she's still too scared to reveal her feelings directly. The fear she had since grom hasn't vanished yet, and it would be too much to bear if it came true. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>All of her thoughts helped her get to the house faster, and she soon found herself in the forest. She knew she was close, just past the tree lining and she would see the house. At this point, she managed to calm her nerve a tiny bit. She rationalized her thoughts, thinking that maybe things were fine. Maybe it was just some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe Luz and them went out suddenly. Maybe Luz was teaching Eda and Lilith her spell methods. She shouldn't have to worry. All she was doing was checking in, seeing what was happening. Amity wanted to believe it was just a misunderstanding, and she kept that thought in front of her the entire time.</p><p> </p><p>Once she passed the opening of the tree lining, she squinted her eyes and looked in the direction of the house. As she got closer, she heard her thoughts scramble. Her heartbeat picked up and she found herself staring onwards, fear plastered all over her face. In front of her, she saw the house, heavily damaged. From the outside, she could see that the walls were cracked and blackened. The roof looked to have taken heavy damage as well. She looked towards the door and saw that it was on the ground, broken off its hinges. Seeing all of this, Amity's fears started to manifest once again.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Picking up her pace, Amity rushed over to the front door. She looked at the little owl that she didn't have too much fun with before. She noticed that he wasn't moving or greeting her with the same annoying way he typically greeted her before. This time, he sat on the ground, silent. There were Xs where his eyes would be. Hooty was out cold. Passing him, she rushed in and saw the horrors within.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The first thing she noticed was how torn up the place was. The walls had the same cracks and black marks all over. Wooden beams that supported the house were on the ground, broken in pieces. The couch was half burnt and broken in half. All the windows were broken and glass littered the ground. Parts of the roof were caved in the house. There was a lot of damage in front of her, but the thing that she noticed the most was the lack of noise. She didn't hear anybody. There wasn't even any background noise of some sort. The place was quiet, and that made her nerves spike up 100 times more.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Luz! Luz! Eda! Lilith! Anybody in here?" Amity shouted, looking frantically at some kind of hint of life anywhere, but she didn't find anything. She noticed the stairs to her left and figured to check there. As she stumbled up the stairs, she noticed something. Stopping in her tracks, she leaned down towards the stairs, looking at a smudge. Casting a light spell, she shined over the stairs and gasped in shock. On the stairs, she saw a dark, thick, red substance litter the staircase from the top to the middle step she was at. Blood. She thought about Luz immediately and she felt sick to her stomach. It looked like she got injured.  </p><p> </p><p>Or hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Passing the blood, Amity rushed up to Luz's room, hoping that by some miracle, that all of this was something else. Something other than what her mind was screaming. She just wanted to see the human safe, and pleaded that when she opened the doors, she would see everybody in there, safe and sound.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>But when she opened the door, her heart froze. Nobody was in the room. The room was empty, and just as destroyed as downstairs. She saw the same kind of damage in here, and it made her gut turn inside out. She looked around, frantically trying to see if she could find anything to explain what happened. At this point, she was beyond terrified about Luz and everybody. Something big had to have happened. There's no way this was some kind of mishap with someone in the house. Somebody came here, and left nothing intact. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>During her frantic pace around the room, she found something glowing under a sheet of cloth torn up. When she brushed it off, she saw that it was Luz's phone. This made her heart freeze. Luz never goes anywhere without her phone. Amity's mind started going ballistic at this point, making her shake even more as her worst fears started to take shape. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>On the phone, she saw that there was a video in front of her. Amity hesitantly played the video, scared to see what she would find. The video started out shaky at first. She couldn't make out what was happening, seeing the flashes of light pass by very quickly, but by the audio playing, she knew one thing. Luz was running from someone.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>After a few seconds of loud sounds and bangs later, the video finally stabilized, showing Amity something that made her gut churn. She saw Luz, staring back at the camera, with pure fear and sadness in her eyes. She could see the tears threatening to break through, and that hurt Amity. She never saw Luz like this. </p><p> </p><p>"Whoever finds this video, I want to let you know that everyone here is getting taken by the Emperor. He came with an army, and they got everyone! They're looking for me now, and I don't know how long I have left." Luz whispered, as tears dripped down her cheek.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity could hear the guards in the background searching the house. It sounded like they weren't leaving any corner unturned. Bashing and loud crashing sounds echoed throughout the building, and Luz started to cry harder. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Whoever finds this video, I just want to say that I'm sorry...I don't belong here, and because of my actions, everyone I know may be in danger."</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She started crying harder as she pulled up a picture in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>"Mami, I'm so sorry...I hope one day you will find this video and see the truth for yourself...I'm so sorry for disappointing you."</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Suddenly, a loud bang could be heard right next to the camera, and the camera dropped to the ground, obscuring what was happening next. Amity could hear the guard yelling at each other, stating that they found her, while Luz was heard screaming, fighting and kicking as much as she could. The sounds became more and more distant, until the phone became just as quiet as the house itself.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity was in pure shock. She couldn't do anything, even if she wanted to. She was frozen on the spot, sitting on the floor, mentally replaying the video in her head. Eventually, she came back into control as she placed the phone in her pocket and picked herself up. She felt hot tears streaming down her face, showing no signs of stopping. Amity's fears came true, and it hurt more than any broken bones she could endure. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Slowly looking back at the hallway to the stairs, she envisioned Luz fighting with all of her might, only to have one of the guards hurt her, causing the blood to be sprayed on the stairs. Amity started sobbing harder as she crumbled back on the ground.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She screamed at herself, feeling so defeated about the situation. She could've done something earlier, when her gut was trying to tell her something was wrong, but she didn't do anything, and she felt more pain at that thought alone. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Picking her head up, she was now looking at the corner of the room, and through blurry vision, she noticed something strange. Getting back up and wiping her eyes, she limped over to the corner and brushed off all of the debris that scattered around it. She looked at the object in shock, more about how it wasn't missing along with everything else. Unlike Luz's phone, this was valuable to the Emperor, and had to have been something of high interest for him.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It was Eda's staff.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Carrying it back downstairs with her, she took one last look at the house, seeing the damage all around, and feeling the pain surge through her, but she felt something else as well. She felt some kind of flame light within her now. Seeing the video of Luz's last moments before being taken away, she felt her nerves spike up, but not in fear. This time she felt rage. Every step she took away from the house made her blood run more and more cold. She felt the anger course through her blood, making her grip the staff harder. Taking one look at the staff, seeing the owl palisman on top, she looked back up at the forest ahead of her, and felt the flame grow stronger within her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"The Emperor isn't getting away with this….Luz, I'm coming for you."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Reaching Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello there! I am back with a new chapter for you all to enjoy! Thank you all so much for the love of this story, it means a lot to see so many people enjoy this story I made! </p><p>I would like to clear up one thing about the story since it was constantly asked about last chapter. I didn't give this story an "AU" name particularly, because I didn't feel like it was gonna be too different, but people asked about it last chapter so I'd like to clear up any confusion.</p><p>You may refer the story's AU as the "Missing AU", but please note there is nothing different from this AU to the actual series other than this particular story, as it comes after YBOS. I hope that clears thing up with everyone. I'll see if I can put a tag for it so it'll be defined more. </p><p>Anyways I'll stop rambling, enjoy chapter 2! -CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Once the house was out of sight, and Amity walked into the forest, she couldn't determine what emotion she felt more. Anger or sadness. Her emotions were having a whole battle in her mind and it became hard to pinpoint how Amity felt.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Obviously she felt upset and depressed. Luz and everyone else was just taken by the emperor's army, and are now being held at the castle presumably. Amity didn't dare think of the possibility that they were already dead. Not only to keep herself from breaking down again, but it also wouldn't make sense. Given the Emperor's record, Amity knew that he wasn't gonna give them the easy way out. He never let it easy when it came to rebels in a way. Especially with Eda, Lilith and Luz, they were more valuable to him than some regular rebel. Amity didn't know what the emperor would do to them, and she didn't want to know. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>On the other hand, she felt pure rage. She knew that it was a garentee that the Emperor would go after them again, but it didn't stop her from being pissed about it. She once wanted to join them, be one of their highest commanders like Lilith was, but then Luz came into her life and changed her view entirely. Amity now felt like she could control her life, and find other ways to be happy without needing to be powerful like her parents. Now, Luz is in the hands of the Coven Amity once wanted to join and the green-haired witch wanted nothing more than to watch the empire burn and crumble.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice her scroll buzz with a notification. Snapping out of her angry and depressive thoughts, she pulled out her scroll and sighed. Looking down, she saw the message was from her sister, Emira, and her stomach started to grow queasy.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hey Mittens, where did you go? You know that mom and dad won't be happy to see you gone with that broken leg of yours." </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Amity had two thoughts after receiving the message. One was that she completely forgot about home. All of what she saw at the Owl House completely made her forget about her own home to begin with. She knew that they would question where she was now. She also thought about her parents. If they knew she went out, she would be dead. They made it clear that they didn't want the witch walking around until the cast was off. Although that thought lingered in her mind, another one popped up afterwards, and it was whether or not to let Emira and Edric know about Luz.</p><p> </p><p>Her siblings knew Luz since the library and they have been alright to her as a friend. Although not as close as Amity was to the human, the older siblings did have some care for the Luz. They always included her with activities with them, which made their bonds together a little bit closer. Amity weighed her options about what to do. If she was to lie about Luz, then how would she explain where she went, and not only that, how would she brush off the fact that she now has Eda's staff.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She also thought about the chance of them catching her trying to sneak out to help Luz. There was no way Amity was <em> not </em> going to help.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Taking a deep breath, she opened her scroll again and started typing:</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Look, it's a very long story on what just happened, but I need you and Edric to meet me in front of Hexside now. I'll explain what's happening there. Please don't let mom and dad hear about this. This is serious."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Not wanting to wait for a response, she moved on to another chat. She figured that if she was gonna let Emira and Edric know, she would let some others know too. The more help she could get, the better. She hovered over names she could pick. She saw Boscha, and immediately said no. Her and Luz were not on the best terms, and even then, Boscha wouldn't accept her after the grudgby game, so she was out completely. She then scrolled down and found Gus's name. Knowing Gus is close to Luz, he would need to know too, and would be willing to help. Taking a breath, she started typing.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hey Gus, it's Amity. I know this is a bit random, but I need you to meet me in front of Hexside as soon as you can. It's about Luz. I'll explain more there." </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Once again closing off the name, she scrolled a bit more down and saw Willow's name. She felt her heart skip a beat in guilt and shame. Even though her and Willow resolved a bit since she fixed her memory, she still couldn't help but feel like a burden to Willow. She hurt Willow badly and felt that she will never forgive her for what she's done.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Shaking her head, she refocused on the message. This was about Luz and everyone else captured. She couldn't focus on herself and her own insecurities. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hey Willow...I know I'm coming out of nowhere, but I need you to meet me at the front of Hexside as soon as you can. It's about Luz..I'll tell you about it when we meet."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Taking a deep breath, she sends the message and closes her scroll. She felt her heart ache from all that just happened. She knew this was gonna be a big operation to save everyone, but it's something Luz would do. She would do it <em> again </em> for anyone. Looking up at the afternoon sky, she thought about Luz again, her adorable smiles and goofy attitude. How she always found a way to be happy, even in tough times. As much trouble Luz did cause with the Emperor, she still didn't deserve what she got. She was fighting for what she believed in, for who she cared about. Amity couldn't help but start tearing up thinking about Luz. All Amity wanted to do was protect Luz with her life, she didn't want anything to happen to the human, but now she's gone, and can't help but think it's her fault.</p><p> </p><p>"Please Luz….just hang in there. I will be there soon. Please stay strong for me."</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She felt her tears roll down her cheek, and closed her eyes to prevent anymore from falling. She couldn't let sadness take her right now. She needed to stay strong. She needed to get to Hexside now. Quickly wiping her eyes again, she started heading over to the school. She had no time to waste right now. Every bit of time she had was crucial and she was gonna utilize it as much as she could. She wasn't gonna waste any time.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Not at the expense of Luz's life. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Inside her room, Willow was doing some spell casting on her plants. She had nothing better to do at the moment. It was a weekend, and she didn't have anything for homework to particularly worry about, so she figured this was now the time to practice up her skills.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Highlighting her flower, she placed a spell upon it, and used some of her energy to control the growth of it, flexing it around, making it grow and shrink. This was surprisingly difficult, especially for a small plant. Even though Willow was very strong with her magic, like with her thorns or summoning random plants, she wasn't a full master. There were still a couple of aspects she needed to tweak with.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Willow felt her energy start to weaken, and before anything else could happen, Willow reverted the plant back to its original size and sat down on her bed. She sighed and smiled to herself, feeling confident about how far she came. For being a late bloomer with spell casting, she was very proud of how much she came with it. From what she's told, she is one of the more powerful witches when it came to the plant coven, and that made her feel even more confident. She always wanted to go into the plant coven, and now that she was switched over, she may be fulfilling her lifelong dream.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>While in her thoughts, she felt her scroll vibrate with a notification, and turned her attention on it. Thinking it was Luz, telling her another story about the fight within the castle, she opened the scroll to only be caught off guard to see Amity's name instead.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Willow isn't exactly strangers with Amity anymore. Ever since their incident with her memories, they have opened up more and progressed towards trying to be friends again, and as of now, it seems like it's going good, but they wouldn't be considered full friends yet. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Willow doesn't feel too comfortable with having one on one conversations with Amity just yet. She still feels the hint of pain of her past when she is with Amity alone. Willow did become more lenient with Amity, now knowing the full story about their split, and now she kept her promise about sticking up for her, but she still couldn't fully forgive her, especially with the bullying she caused afterwards.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Passing her thoughts, Willow opened up the message and read it. After she was done, Willow felt a hint of concern grow up her throat. Willow was one of the only friend's of Luz to see the full story happen at the castle, along with Gus, and she understood that Luz would now be a marked person by the Emperor, so hearing Amity tell her to meet up at the school to discuss about Luz, it made her spine chill. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She ignored her concerns the best she could and prepared to go out. If this was something that her gut was telling her, then Willow would want to be there to see what she could do to help. Luz is one of her best friends, and she would do anything to help her out. Luz proved that to her when they first met in the woods, and Willow wanted to make that up to her. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Grabbing her cloak, she swiftly put it on and rushed out the door, before being stopped by her fathers.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Willow, where are you going sweetie?"</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, uh Gus wanted me to go meet him at the school. He says he has a new illusion trick he wants to show off." Willow lied, hoping her dads would believe her.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Mmm alright pumpkin, just be back here soon, we're gonna be making dinner." </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I will, thanks dad." She ran and gave them both a hug before stepping out the door. That did manage to put a smile on her face for a second, but now she has to go see Amity, and she has no idea what could happen.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, please let this be some good news.." she took a deep breath, and trotted towards hexside, hoping to find something pleasant with Amity calling her over. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Asking for Help</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone, I present to you all Chapter 3! I'm glad all of you guys are enjoying the story so far, and I appreciate the feedback with all of it!</p><p>I would like to say one thing before I continue. If you guys want to hear news about this story and future chapter releases and such, as well as to see my artwork on it, it'll be on my instagram @_circularcreations_ </p><p>Therefore you'll know when to be updated on the story.  You can also see some of my original content if any of that stuff interest you too. Now that's out of the way,  let's get going!<br/>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Minutes ticked by as Amity sat on the stairs of Hexside, waiting for everybody to meet up with her. There was a small part of her mind that believed that she was waiting there for nothing, but she stayed confident that at least somebody was gonna come along and meet her here, therefore she can explain what was going on.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As time passed by, Amity found herself thinking about Luz once again. It was impossible <em>not</em> to think about her. Amity just witnessed her last moments, and that's pretty traumatizing to see, especially if it was the person that has changed you for the better, and the one you love deeply, that was taken. </p><p>
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</p><p>Amity closed her eyes, and pictured herself with Luz at grom again. Even with her weird choice of outfit, Amity loved the way she looked that night, but it went deeper than that for her. She was so amazed how fearless Luz was going up against Grom. She was willing to fight Grom for Amity's sake without a second thought, and that's something that really emphasized Amity's infatuation with the human. It was the first time someone has done that for her, and the gesture was enough to drive Amity over with love.</p><p>
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</p><p>The thought made Amity start tearing up again. That night was the best night she has ever experienced with anyone. She was genuinely happy for once. She didn't fear the consequences of anything she would've done that night either. It was the first time where she felt like she could fully be her true self around someone, and it was thanks to Luz driving that change into her.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity was so caught up in her thought that she almost didn't hear the slight sound of footsteps in front of her. Opening her eyes in shock, she saw Gus, standing in front of her, slightly concerned.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Uh, hey Amity...are you okay, is everything okay?" Gus asked, concern laced in his voice. Amity felt the concern and frowned. "Yeah..well, when everyone else gets here, I'll explain what's happening."</p><p>
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</p><p>"Everyone else?" Gus asked, genuinely confused now. "Yeah, there's more people coming. I need all the help that I can get...something bad happened." Amity's voice trailed off, as brief flashes of the house and blood appeared in her mind, making her shake her head.</p><p>
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</p><p>As she finished that statement, she saw both Edric and Emira arrive in front of her, like Gus, with concerned looks on their faces.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright Mittens, if this is something that was serious enough to get me out of my room, it must be like, really bad." Edric said, somewhat joking, while Emira elbowed him lightly. "Yeah Amity, what's going on? Why were you out?" Emira chimed in with her concern.</p><p>
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</p><p>After that statement, Willow finally arrived behind everyone, and was caught off guard to see not only Gus, but Amity's siblings too. Whatever was happening was big to Willow, and she grew uneasy.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hey Amity...I got your message. What's going on right now?" Willow asked her concerned question like everyone else. Amity, feeling the light pressure with everyone focused on her, took a deep breath and looked down.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Let me ask everyone here before I continue on. Has anyone heard from Luz in the past couple of hours?" Amity asked, trying to state it in her most calm voice she could muster up. Everyone else looked at each other and gave off a questionable look. </p><p>
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</p><p>"No, I don't think anyone has even talked to Luz here today." Willow stated, feeling her queasiness start intensifying. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Yeah, in fact, where is she? If you have everyone else here, why isn't she here?" Edric asked, now knowing that the issue was about Luz. Amity gripped her clothing tightly at the question, fighting back the feeling of emotions trying to overthrow her right now. "That's the thing Edric...this is about Luz here…" Amity said, with a shaky voice.</p><p>
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</p><p>Everyone started looking at Amity with more concern than they had before. She was looking down at the ground, with shaky breathing as if she was trying to control something within her. She also kept her eyes shut the entire time, while having her head down. "Amity….what's wrong with Luz...?" Willow asked, knowing that's what everyone else was thinking on their minds. </p><p>
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</p><p>"L-Luz...she-she got...she got.." Amity tried her best to compose herself to let everyone else know about what happened to the human, but her emotions were refusing to let the words come out of her throat. Tears slipped past her shut eyes, and dropped down her cheeks as she tried her best to hide her face from everyone, but there was no hiding from the pain she was going through right now. </p><p>
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</p><p>"The emperor came...t-they brought an army to the O-Owl Lady's house….and took them….They destroyed the house...I-inside and out...and they took her...they took L-Luz…" Amity finally admitted to what happened, far past her self control of her emotions. She was shaking where she stood, and tears relentlessly dripped down her cheek and on the ground. Everyone around her stared in horror, not wanting to believe the news they just heard, but judging by Amity's behavior right now, this was no sick joke.</p><p>
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</p><p>Before anyone could question Amity about it, she pulled out Luz's phone and showed it to them, along with Eda's staff, which garnered a gasp from everyone around, as they started to understand the severity of the situation. Amity went into Luz's phone and pulled the video she watched earlier. Without uttering a word, she played the video again, and handed it to Gus, who started watching in horror, along with everyone else.</p><p>
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</p><p>As the rest of the group watched the video, Amity stood there, silently sobbing to herself as she reheard the audio of Luz running up to her room, and her final words to the phone. It hurt her so much, hearing that video, knowing that Luz was about to endure her last moments before getting taken. Hearing the fear and sadness in her voice made Amity's depressive thoughts intensify, along with her emotions. When the video ended, everyone looked up with horror plastered on their faces. Edric and Emira felt sick to their stomachs, Guz was paralyzed with fear, keeping his grip on the phone, as if it was Luz herself, and Willow had tears forming in her eyes. She looked up at Amity, who was a broken mess in front of everyone, and without thinking, she walked over to Amity, and pulled her into a warm embrace that made the witch cry harder.</p><p>
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</p><p>Ever so slowly, everyone else gathered around Amity, and added themselves along with the hug, doing their best to comfort the broken girl that had found the mess in the first place. Out of everyone, Amity was the most caring of the human's well being ever since grom, and everyone knew that. The pain that the green haired girl must've been enduring from the situation had to be brutal. It felt like an hour they spent just standing in front of the school, letting their pain out. Amity couldn't stop shaking, even when gripped in 4 different pairs of arms, her body still made an effort to make her shake like a broken toy, and after a while, she couldn't cry anymore. She was just left with whimpers as she gripped Willow.</p><p>
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</p><p>Eventually, Amity pulled herself from the hug, wiped her eyes and looked at everybody to get their attention. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I didn't just call all of you here to bring the bad news….I need all of your help...I want to go save Luz and everyone else stuck up there." Amity stated, trying her best to convey confidence to everyone else.</p><p>
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</p><p>"What? Are you crazy mittens? That's basically suicide! You'll end up getting yourself killed!" Edric said, fear gripping him tighter at the idea.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Listen to me. I know it sounds insane and dangerous...and it is...but everyone should know Luz very well at this point….she would do anything just to make sure we were safe under her watch….she did the same thing for the Owl Lady, and she managed to get away from the Emperor's grip. Knowing Luz...if we were in the same situation she is in right now...she would be throwing herself in danger without a second thought, just to save us….Luz needs us this time...we need to help her…" Amity said, taking a breather after her unintentional speech that left her both breathless and emotional. More tears dripped down her soaked cheek as she looked up with pleading eyes. "Please...I don't want to lose her..." Amity whispered, as the tears dropped from her face.</p><p>
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</p><p>Everybody looked at each other with sad looks, but they knew Amity spoke the truth. Out of everyone, Luz was the one that always went out of her way to make sure everybody was happy and safe. She did it for everybody there at some point, and she would gladly do it again. The group all smiled and nodded together and looked back at Amity.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright mittens, we're in with you. We will help you on your rescue mission." Emira stated, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Guz nodded along with Emira, giving a confident smirk. "For Luz." </p><p>
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</p><p>For the first time since Luz's disappearance online, Amity felt a genuine smile smear across her face, happy to hear that everyone was on board. She wiped her eyes and looked back up at the people who stood in front of her. "Thank you guys. You're all the best." She smiled more.</p><p>
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</p><p>"It's no problem Mittins, we want her back as much as you do, and we'll get her back." Edric said, rubbing Amity's head, ruffling her hair a little.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>"Alright, first thing's first. We need a plan. How are we gonna be able to get in the castle in the first place?" Willow asked, looking at Amity.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hmm, I believe the staff here should be big enough for all of us to fit. We can fly over there. To get in, I believe we'll need the experts of deception to help with that." Amity said while looking at Gus, Edric and Emira. They all smirked and looked at each other. "You can count on us!" They said in unison. </p><p>
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</p><p>Amity looked up and noticed the sky started to get dark. Frowning, she sighed and looked back at everyone. "Alright guys, we need to make a plan. Everybody meet back here tomorrow morning alright? We'll get the plan down from there and we'll head over there. Got it?" Amity said, confidently.</p><p>
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</p><p>"You sure Luz is gonna be able to...y'know…" Gus said, looking at the ground solemnly. Amity had the same fear, but she knows the Emperor is gonna toy with her. "I know Luz will make it through. She's a fighter. Whatever the Emperor throws at her, I'm sure she'll take it like a champ long enough." Amity said. She knew that didn't exactly sound as confident as she thought, but it was enough to have everyone loosen their nerves a tiny bit.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright Amity, we got this." Gus said confidently. "I'll be back here tomorrow morning, and I'll see what I can come up with for the plan." Gus said, turning around. Willow followed behind him, giving one last look to Amity.</p><p>
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</p><p>"And don't worry Amity, we're gonna get her back. I promise." Amity smiled as Willow and Gus disappeared from sight, waving goodbye. Edric and Emira looked down at Amity and placed their hands on her shoulder. </p><p>
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</p><p>"C'mon mittens, let's head home, before Mom and Dad get back." Emira said, leading Amity to move. Amity was looking at the ground, thinking about what to do tomorrow. She thought about Luz again, but this time, smiled, knowing they were getting closer to her rescue.</p><p>
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  <em> Stay put Luz. We're gonna get you out of there. We're almost there. </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
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</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Entries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I present to you chapter 4 of Missing! Once again, thank you all for enjoying this story! It truly means alot to me</p><p>This is a long chapter. It's about 4,000 words long, so if you can't read it all in one sitting, that's fine. Just thought I'd point that out for everyone to know</p><p>Anyways, enjoy the chapter! It's my personal favorite so far!<br/>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The trip back to the manor was better thanks to the company of Edric and Emira. As much as they typically annoyed Amity from time to time, they recognize when their little sister is upset and always puts her above everything else to cheer her up, and this is no exception. The young Blight girl must've been in a lot of conflicting emotions right now, and the older siblings wanted to make her a top priority.</p><p>
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</p><p>It made Amity feel better too. Having the company of them helped keep her mind off the negative parts of everything she saw and thought of today. It was a nice change that kept her head up throughout the way back. </p><p>
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</p><p>Luckily for both Amity and the older siblings, the parents haven't arrived yet, and they used this time to quickly get back to their rooms as if nothing ever happened, agreeing they would get up early for the mission. After the past few hours being out, laying in her bed again felt very relieving to Amity, especially on her leg. </p><p>
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</p><p>Her leg wasn't exactly in pain, but after a full few days being stuck in bed, the sudden movement in her body definitely felt very weird on her foot, which made traversing around fairly weird today. She wondered how she was gonna do it tomorrow, but she figured she would worry about that tomorrow when the time comes.</p><p>
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</p><p>Laying in her bed, the only things that accompanied Amity once again were her own thoughts, but for the time being, they weren't her inner demons yet. They were just thoughts about the plan tomorrow. She wondered how she would manage to get in with everyone. On that thought, she realized that she doesn't even know where Luz is located in the castle. Once again, Amity really couldn't do much about that until tomorrow. She was fairly certain that she would figure where everyone was.</p><p>
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</p><p>Soon enough, she ran out of thoughts for tomorrow, and her inner demons started festering her mind afterwards. They didn't start tolerant either. They went straight into the stuff Amity didn't want to think about. She thought about failing. Possibly messing up whatever happens tomorrow, and risking Luz's life. She knew that if anything went wrong, Luz was dead. That idea gripped itself to her mind. Other fears included how Luz was gonna be when she found her. Other than the "being too late and finding her dead" fear, she was scared to see the girl all bruised up and injured. Amity never seen Luz injured. In a weird way, she never thought of the girl badly hurt because of her happy and bubbly attitude. It would be very jarring to see someone like her be badly hurt, and the witch knew that she was gonna have to see that for herself very soon.</p><p>
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</p><p>For around 20 minutes, she layed in her tomb of a bed, stuck with these thoughts that showed no end of stopping, relentless fears about Luz and the plan tomorrow that drove Amity crazy with anxiety. After the 20 minutes of the thoughts, the witch had enough. She thought about something that would distract her, something that would make the thoughts end, anything, and her attention went towards something that was left behind in the shattered remains of the Owl House. Something that was always in the possession of the human.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz's phone.</p><p>
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</p><p>As much as seeing the phone itself was a constant reminder that Luz was gone, she found it interesting. Obviously it's a device that the Boiling Isles didn't have, and its design itself did interest Amity's attention away from her mind. While she was fiddling with it though, she accidentally turned it on and was greeted with the video again. She heard Luz's scream from the video and she immediately panicked. She pressed everything she could to get the video to stop, and after 5 seconds of random pressing on the screen, she clicked on the album folder and found a bunch more videos.</p><p>
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</p><p>The videos were in the same format as the one that's been haunting Amity all day, but instead of a terrified face full of tears, she saw the face that she grew to love. The cheery and innocent smile as the thumbnail for every video made Amity smile at the phone. Looking around, she noticed the title of the folder in the upper left corner.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Video Diaries"</p><p>
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</p><p>"Oh cramity!" Amity said lightly. This was Luz's journal basically, but instead of writing down her thoughts, she verbally described them. From the looks of it, she started theses as soon as she came to the Boiling Isles, which peaked Amity's interest a little bit more.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Wait. No. I shouldn't do this...these are private thoughts." Amity stated to herself, looking at the thumbnails, almost begging her to view the videos. Amity stared at the screen for a few moments, contemplating on what she should do. She knew that there were definitely some secrets Luz had in here for a reason, and Amity wanted to respect that, but she knew that if she put the phone down, she would be plagued with the thoughts again, and she didn't know how much more she could handle them.</p><p>
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</p><p>Feeling selfish, Amity tried to justify her actions by claiming that Luz did go through her diary once before, so she has the right to at least see some videos here. Amity looked around to see which one she should watch first, and she figured, why not Luz's first day in the Boiling Isles.</p><p>
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</p><p>Pressing on the screen, the phone went black for a few moments, before the video promptly played seconds later. It showed Luz in her room, looking around with glee and excitement written all over her face. It made Amity chuckle about how excited she was.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hello me, Luz here and oh my GOSH AM I THRILLED RIGHT NOW." Luz shouted, laughing after, causing Amity to giggle a little. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this. Magic is real! It's real! There's a whole different world about it!" Luz exclaimed, looking at the camera with joy in her eyes. "Like, there's so much in this that's...so different from my world. Obviously, THERE'S MAGIC!" Luz screeched, giggling behind the camera, as did Amity watching Luz go wild again.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Not only that, but I've met this old lady witch that is gonna teach me magic!" Luz said giggling, before drawing her attention to the floor. "I also met the cutest little boy here!" Luz disappeared from the camera before promptly coming back with King in her arms, trying desperately to go. "Who's a cutie? You are! Yes you are! You are so precious!" Luz said before proceeding to kiss King multiple times.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Unhand me right now you vile being! I will not be treated as a baby!!" King screeched, before prying Luz's hands away and running out the room. "He still got to get use to me." Luz winked at the camera, and Amity started blushing at the gesture. She knew it wasn't for her, but she couldn't help but feel Luz was talking directly to her.</p><p> </p><p>"Anyways, I better get some sleep now. Tomorrow will be a long day of learning to be a witch, just like The Great Witch Azura, Warrior of Peace!" Luz started posing around the camera, making Amity on the other side of the phone giggle again. "I'll update you again. Goodnight!" Luz waved at the camera before the screen kicked Amity back to the sea of videos, but not before Amity got a wave back to Luz, as if she just had a real conversation with her. </p><p>
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</p><p>Amity didn't waste another second looking at the menu. It was refreshing to hear Luz's voice that didn't involve screaming. It made Amity happy. She clicked on another video that seemed like a few entries later. When the video started, Luz appeared on the screen, happy and cheery as usual.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hello me, again! Guess who? I bet you don't even know!" Luz joked, before giggling to herself. "Anyways, today was definitely a eventful day. There was this like wizard convention, and me, Willow, Gus, King and Eda went there, and there was so much to see!" Luz placed back and forth from the camera trying to contain her excitement. Amity meanwhile realized what day this was. The day her and Luz had a duel. Amity remembered that day, and remembered how cold she was to Luz and King when they bumped into her. She even placed an oath on her that if she lost, she couldn't learn magic anymore. Guilt panged through her chest and she considered choosing another video, but Luz beat her to making a decision.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Then I ran into Amity, and it was just as I expected. She wasn't fond of me at all, and I tried to introduce myself properly this time. I know I got her in trouble last time we bumped into each other, but I didn't mean to cause that. I was just helping Willow that day." Luz reflected, looking slightly down before getting energetic once again. "Regardless, Amity was harsh to me and King, and I kinda challenged her to a duel. Long story short...we both cheated. I guess Amity wasn't in on her side of it though and felt really defeated, so I went to check on her after she ran away." Luz continued on, looking up to process the day more.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity listened carefully to what Luz said. She was scared that she would hear Luz saying some rude stuff about her because that's how she was that day, but to her surprise, she didn't hear such. In fact, to the witch, she constantly felt sympathy come from the human's mouth, which caught the witch by surprise. She didn't deserve for the human to be feeling upset about the witch. In fact, Amity believes she didn't deserve the human at times. With the way things started with them, she was too harsh and judging towards Luz, and that easily could've cost Amity never meeting Luz fully, but she got lucky and still managed to keep her close throughout her time here.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz continued the entry like normal, explaining about Amity and her little talk in a side hallway of the convention, and how she expressed that maybe one day, they'll be able to get close. Amity smiled at that comment, knowing that Luz never gave up on her, and she was very grateful for that.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity then picked another video, which showed off the explanation of the memory day with Willow. Luz proceeded to talk about the day and what happened, while Amity started feeling bad about all of that happening. She should've never tried anything at all, she almost messed up Willow's memory permanently, and If that actually happened, Amity would've never live that guilt down. A sigh from the video took Amity's mind off her guilt and back to the video.</p><p>
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</p><p>"And then inner Willow and Amity patched things up. Amity revealed why their friendship ended, and it was because of her stupid parents and their threats. Oh I swear if I see them do something bad to Amity like that again, I'll just show them a nice glyph." Luz threatened in the camera, with anger prominent in her eyes. Amity laughed at the threat because it was Luz saying this. She never expects Luz to be taken seriously, and her goofy face didn't help with that either. Amity did take in those words seriously, and appreciated them heavily. No one has ever mentioned anything about standing up for her when it came to her parents, and hearing that from Luz made Amity feel even more cherished.</p><p>
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</p><p>Eventually the video ended, and Amity was pretty happy about what she had seen so far. She felt like she got distracted enough for the bad thoughts to go away, and she didn't want to keep pestering on Luz's private info anymore. Before she could turn off the phone, Amity accidentally swiped down, and one of the thumbnails that swiped up was that of Luz in her grom outfit. Amity blushed at the screen and looked at the picture for a moment. In the thumbnail, Luz didn't look cheery either, her face was red and she overall looks flushed with embarrassment.</p><p>
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</p><p>Kinda like how Amity looked when she was around Luz afterwards.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity contemplated heavily about viewing the video. This could be the chance to hear Luz's true feelings towards Amity, but what if they were the wrong feelings? What if Luz didn't feel that way, and Amity was just reaching for an answer that didn't exist? She felt her stomach squirm in fear, but Amity, biting her lip, decided it was time to face her fear. If she truly wanted to know, now was the chance, and she wasn't gonna waste it.</p><p>
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</p><p>Clicking on the video, the screen popped up and showed Luz in her Grom outfit again, and the look on her face showed that she was extremely flustered. Her face pulsed with a light red blush that went from ear to ear, and Luz was stuttering, trying to get the right words.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hello me, it's me, duh." Luz said with a light chuckle. "So, tonight was definitely an experience. I don't know how to feel about it fully though, there's good and bad to it." Luz shyly stated, while looking at the ground. Amity's stomach continued to twist, but she did her best to ignore the fear, and proceeded to listen.</p><p>
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</p><p>"So we just had the Boiling Isles version of Prom, known as Grom, but it wasn't as you expected." She said lightly, looking back. "A chosen student was tasked to fight this monster that shape shifted into your worst fears. This year's student happened to be Amity, and she didn't take it well…" luz trailed off, in thought. A noticeable blush formed more on Luz's face before she shook her head and continued </p><p>
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</p><p>"Amity was really scared of her worst fear...and I felt bad..so I decided to take her place. To be her 'Fearless Champion'." Luz put a lot of emphasis on Fearless Champion.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I wasn't fearless at all. In fact. When my true fear came around, I couldn't handle it, and I ran away…" Luz looked down in defeat, a troubled look formed on her face. "I said I was gonna be Amity's Fearless Champion...but she turned out to be mine." Luz said with a more down tone. "So much for being 'fearless'." Luz said, taking in a sigh.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity studied Luz's face and felt bad for the human. Did she think that she felt inadequate? Or that she felt like she failed to protect Amity in a way? That's what it sounded like to Amity, and it broke her heart to see Luz so defeated over simply because she "failed" to protect her. To Amity, Luz did just that. She went through being grom queen with barely any knowledge or prep of how to battle and defeat grom, just so Amity didn't face her fear. </p><p>
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</p><p>"We managed to beat both our fears together. We did a dance. Like in shows where characters sometimes do those fighting dances, yeah that's what we literally did! It was really nice." Luz said, cheerier now, and giggling. "Y'know as much as I couldn't face my fear alone….at least Amity was there by my side to help me…" Luz trailed off, blushing and lost in thought. Amity also started blushing, smiling at the video, knowing that she helped Luz that night, but something caught her off guard.</p><p>
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</p><p>"She was the first person to be by my side like that..." Luz quietly said. Amity shook her head and stared at the screen with shock. Did Luz say what she really just said? Surely she has to be joking right? I mean, Luz was such a lovable and cool person, she had to have someone to help her out when she needed it...right? Amity's question soon got an answer when Luz looked back at the camera with a frown.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Back home…I was a nobody...just because I had interests that others weren't into, that made me a weirdo…" Luz looked solemnly at the ground. "I was constantly bullied, and I was always alone….I never thought I would have someone be there for me when I needed it…..but then Amity came around…" Luz looked back up, slightly smirking and blushing more. Amity listened intently, with her eyes fixated on the screen.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Over the past few weeks of me being here..I made my first friends ever...and it was great! Finally having a connection with people is truly the best thing ever, and although Gus and Willow are amazing friends to have, I believe the best connection I made...was with Amity. I know, we didn't have the best start, but I knew she would've been a good person to have by my side if I kept trying...and that's what I did. I never gave up. I always came around, trying to impress her and trying to get her attention, and it finally paid off." Luz took a moment to breath, while Amity watched in awe, blushing more. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>"Amity...well, the <em> real </em>Amity is a sweet, caring and loving person that has a fun personality when you get to know her. She is someone that I can rely on with help, and she is someone that is fun to be with. I mean me and her have similar interests, like Azura! She has that attitude like she doesn't care that much, but I know she does. When I saw her true side back at the convention, I knew I had to get that side out for her, she needed it, and now she's nicer than before. She treats me so much better than before, and that means alot to me...She means alot to me…." </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Luz took a moment to herself, trying to compose the words she was going to say next. "...so much so that I think I may be falling for her…" Luz said, blushing harder, while Amity sat there wide eyed at the video, blushing more than she thought she could ever do. "When I saw her tonight at Grom, from how she looked and how she was willing to face her fears for me, when I couldn't face my own...it was something that made me appreciate her more than a friend..I just don't know if she has the same feelings back...I mean..who would like a mess like me?" Luz said, quietly as she let embarrassment consume her. Playing with her fingers, she looked back up "w-well, that's all I have to say for tonight. I'll update you again soon. Bye-Bye!" Luz said, lightly waving at the camera before the screen went black and threw Amity back in the sea of smiling faces.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity was in shock. She was paralyzed in awe and happiness, that even if she tried to move, she wouldn't be able to. She felt her cheeks burn with blush as it smeared across her entire face, while her heart was beating extremely fast, flustered by the information she heard. A smile grew on Amity's face while tears of happiness filled her eyes, and she regained control of her body. Taking the opportunity, she picked up her pillow, pressed it against her face and squealed as hard as she could. She didn't care about if anyone else heard her. In fact, everything around her was muffled and faint, as she focused on her thoughts and feelings. Although Amity was beyond happy, she still felt some kind of nagging feeling within her subconscious, as if it was trying to remind her something, and it did. As she put more attention on it, she remembered everything else that was revealed to her in that video, and that quickly put a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>She thought about what Luz said. About her home life back in her world. How she was a nobody and how she didn't have any friends to talk to, even when she desperately needed it. Amity felt both sad and enraged at that thought. She thought about how Luz must've felt internally. As someone who didn't have real friends, well after she was forced to break off from Willow, Amity could relate with the loneliness that Luz felt. It killed Amity inside, and she knew it did with Luz too. Being lonely is something that shattered pieces inside of Amity throughout her life, and she constantly thought that the loneliness she felt in her core was worse than death itself.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity also grew angry, enraged about how no one gave Luz a chance at all in her world. Amity knew she was kinda like that at first, but she got to know the human within the short time she's been here so far and she hasn't regretted it since. The fact that people in Luz's world knew her much longer than Amity and didn't give her a chance because of the petty reason of "being different" was something that made her blood boil.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Taking a deep breath, she let herself relax and calm down before she exploded from anger. She shook her head and thought to herself. Those kids didn't deserve Luz. Luz was too good for them, and even though Luz would've loved to have somebody as a friend in her world, Amity knew those people wouldn't be good friends to make. She thought about now, and how Luz has finally made connections. To Eda, to King, to Willow and Gus...and to her. Amity felt so lucky to have someone as special as Luz in her life. She had everything in a person that Amity could ask for, she was a true friend and Amity loved her. Amity was happy. She has Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Well...Amity <em> had </em>her. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Almost forgetting the obvious through her thoughts, Amity's smile disappeared and she felt the world coming back to her hard. Coming back to reality, she remembered that Luz wasn't safe. That she's stuck and captured, and God knows what else. She felt her demons come back to harass her, to remind her of the fears she had, but as the demons clawed their way to Amity's consciousness, an idea popped into Amity's head and it swiftly blew back the demons. Looking around on the phone, Amity clicked on the camera icon, then positioned the phone to point towards her. She took a deep breath, before pressing the record button and sitting back.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Uhh, is this thing on?" Amity questioned, looking at the screen. After a second, she shrugged her shoulders. "I hope it's good." She said giggling after.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity took one deep breath and looked at the camera. "Alright Luz, I can't lie to you. I went through your...human device and saw some of your videos. I saw your grom video specifically….and heard about what happened back in your world. I'm sorry you felt so alone. I didn't know you were that alone before you came here. If I knew that, I would've given you a better chance at the start." Amity felt her nerves rise up, the emotions shaping her face up. "Luz, I just want to say that you are the most incredible and amazing person I've ever met. You have stuck with me, even though I treated you so harshly…and i-i'm so sorry for treating you that way...you didn't deserve it.." Amity felt the emotions leaking through her eyes, as she recalled her bad side again, but she didn't fight it. She wanted Luz to see she was being genuine, that she was being honest.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Y-You have made me into such a better person...honestly I can't imagine how I would be without you showing me my true side again….I know I wouldn't be the person I am now." Tears rolled down Amity's face as she took a moment to compose herself.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>"Luz...I heard your feelings toward me...all the nice things you said...and how you truly feel….you don't need to be scared...I feel the same way....I love you Luz. I really do love you. I honestly can't stop admiring how..perfect you are. You're truly the most pure person I've ever met. You have such a fun personality. You're always fun to talk to, and to be myself around...and you are just so sweet. Despite me being harsh at times…you stuck with me. You stuck with me even when I did bad stuff...like with Willow..and you took my place as Grom Queen without a second thought...you were my Fearless Champion Luz...and I greatly appreciate that..." Amity fell silent as she thought about Luz now. How she was gone and captured. More tears fell from her face as Amity took in one last breath. </p><p>
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</p><p>"You may be g-gone now….with the Emperor...but I am coming for you. I'm coming to get you and everyone else in there out. I'm gonna rescue you, because you matter Luz." Amity smiled at the camera as she felt her face blushed heavily and more tears twinkled down her cheek.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I will see you soon, and I hope after I get you out, you will see this video, and see how I truly feel…...I love you...thank you for giving me a chance." </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>And with that, Amity, wiping her face and grabbing the camera, stops the recording, feeling more confident than ever. Tomorrow, she will go to the Emperor, tomorrow, she will rescue everyone, and tomorrow, she will see Luz again. No more worries plague her mind after the video. She was confident.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Luz would be back, and Amity would make sure nobody would hurt her ever again.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Art done by @garseeyart, the writer of Here to Help. A fantastic story might I add. You did good with this Garseey, thank you so much!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Captured</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Surprise! I decided to give you guys an early release for chapter 5 today, even though you wouldn't be waiting long. Now this chapter is definitely more dark than the others, and it is rather short, but it reveals something people have been asking about. So go ahead and read the chapter, I hope you all enjoy!<br/>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Ugh. My stomach hurts. I haven't eaten anything in hours.</p><p>
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</p><p>I can't focus much, thanks to this stupid concussion.</p><p>
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</p><p>It's so dark and cold down here.</p><p>
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</p><p>What are they doing to Eda and Lilith? I hope they're alright right now…</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Under the empire was somewhere Luz didn't want to be in again. After her heroic rescue of Eda, she knew the Emperor was gonna come back. She expected it. And yet, when the doors came barging down, she wasn't prepared at all. Neither were Eda and Lilith. Without their magic, they were sitting ducks. The Emperor brought an entire army, and they were unstoppable.</p><p>
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</p><p>Hooty didn't even have a chance. One force spell from the guards was enough to not just knock down Hooty, but shake up the entire house. Luz remembered the sight inside the house when that force spell occurred, seeing all of Eda's valuable fall to the ground, every window shattering and cracks forming in the house.</p><p>
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</p><p>They gave them no breathing time. The second that door blasted down, every guard that surrounded the house charged at them, using everything in their power. Luz barely managed to escape the grip of them for some time, but it didn't last long. She knew she was gonna be joining Lilith and Eda, so in her final moments before she was taken, she made a video, in hopes of someone finding it.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>All of these painful memories that happened just hours ago still grip Luz like razors to her heart. Staring down at the floor, all she was able to do in that room was to reminisce what had happened. She tried to think good, tried to think of anything to alleviate the severity of her situation, but her brain refused to conjure up any good memories without reminding her of the bad that may happen now because of her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The more she spent stuck in that room, with the chains around her ankles and wrist, she felt more and more alone. It was the one feeling that was scaring her more than anything else. Alone in that dark room, her brain wasted no time to remind her of the emptiness she felt down in her core. She had nobody with her right now. She had no one to talk to. All she had was her own thoughts, and to Luz, it felt worse than death.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Luz found a new beginning in the Boiling Isles, the one beginning she wanted back then. She had a new start to make connections, to do something new, to make a good impression. It was a dream come true for Luz. Aside from the fantasy elements, Luz wished for a new beginning so badly. She was constantly bullied, and picked on for her obsession with magic and fantasy, and this bullying pushed new people away from Luz. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>She tried to fight the negativity that clouded her vision back home. She always tried to put a smile on her face every chance she had. She didn't want anyone to know the damage they were causing. She wanted to look strong, in the hopes that maybe the bullies would realize they were wasting time, but that never happened, and as more and more bullying happened, Luz slowly died inside. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Then her mom tried to put her in a summer camp, and once again Luz tried to hide her emotions. She loves her mom, but her opting this instead of some other kind of solution made Luz see her mom a little differently. Her mother willingly signed her daughter up to a camp that would make her lose herself, and that killed a big piece that was holding up Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Now, back at the Boiling Isles, Luz was given things she never got back home. She was able to make friends with people. She was able to do magic, one of her lifelong dreams, she met an amazing mentor and somewhat mother figure and she felt like she truly belonged for once. She always felt like an outcast at home, and on the really bad days, she wished she could disappear. Because of the negativity that surrounded her life, she never felt included. She always felt like she didn't belong, and now she finally felt accepted for once. It was the feeling she yearned for, the feeling she desperately needed to stay whole.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Then a month or so later, stuck in a prison, Luz felt those feelings vanish, and the pain slowly returned.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>Her fears of being alone was greater than what fears she had of the Emperor. As much as she likes to say that she "beat" the Emperor, being real with herself, she knew he gave her a chance. He let her go in favor of saving Eda. Now, she's back in the very place where she was 24 hours ago, and she had no idea what the Emperor was planning. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>In the midst of her thoughts, Luz heard a sound from her right, but she didn't bother to look. She already knew who was there, watching her with judging and almost gloating eyes. The same person that she battled 24 hours ago in order to save Eda. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I see that you have accommodated yourself here. Not like you'll be going anywhere, anytime soon anyways." The Emperor said, with a hint of sarcasm that made Luz's blood run cold.</p><p>
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</p><p>"You already won. You got everyone you were wanting right? Whatever you're planning to do, just get it over with now." Luz said coldly, not bothering to look up at the Emperor as he strolled up in front of her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I love your enthusiasm, but I can't do anything yet. As you see, we can't petrify anyone, since you did break the machine last time you were here, but don't worry. Once that's fixed, Eda and Lilith would look great alongside the other wild witches." The Emperor stated, noticing the muscles in the human tense up with anger and frustration with him. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Then what about me? Are you not gonna petrify me too? Are you planning on some other way to kill me? Just do it already. I have no tricks up my sleeve to get me out of here." Luz felt the anger continue to rise in her blood, but knew she couldn't do anything. The Emperor laughed at Luz, before stepping closer which made Luz finally look up at him.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Oh human, I don't plan to kill you yet. Before I can, I want to show you the consequences that will come because of you." The Emperor pointed at Luz, before turning away and disappearing in the shadows. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Take a gander." </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>A switch was heard being flipped, and the lights flickered on in the room, blinding Luz immediately. she hasn't seen light in a couple of hours, so having a lot of it hit her was painful. It took her a second to adjust to the light, but when she did, she was faced with something that made all anger vanish, and fear replace it. Up ahead was a giant window, and behind that window was a portal. Luz saw the circle shaped machine, and to her horror, saw the door right in the middle, all fixed up and ready to go.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Pretty impressive right?" The Emperor said, again sarcasm laced in that sentence. "You destroying the door was a minor setback, but we were able to fix it up and now it's almost ready to go." The Emperor turned around to see the human horrified at the sight. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>"Once the machine is done charging up, it'll open that portal, allowing us to go into any world we can think of." the Emperor chuckled, while directing his attention to the human. "And let's just say we'll start off somewhere that may feel like...home." Luz felt her entire system jump at the revelation. She couldn't grab the words that were clogged in her throat, all of them being locked down by fear. </p><p>
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</p><p>"And because of your actions, there's someone in that world I might wanna meet. Your mother will be happy to see me." He chuckled, seeing the human's eyes widen at the comment. Tears started forming around Luz's eyes, as she thought about her mother...how disappointed she has to be, because of her. </p><p>
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</p><p>"No..please..d-don't touch her. I beg!" Luz stammered, feeling the hot tears run down her face, as the Emperor chuckled and shook his head.</p><p>
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</p><p>"This is what I'm talking about, human. If you hadn't came around, acting like a hero with that cloak and staff, then your mother wouldn't be in this situation, now would she?" He said, more firm and strict with Luz, causing more tears to fall from her. He turned around, facing the portal.</p><p>
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</p><p>"And not only am I going after her. I'm going after your little school friends here too." he said coldly, causing Luz to gasp in shock. </p><p>
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</p><p>"No! Please don't bring them into this either! This was an issue I caused you, not them!" She shouted, the relentless tears dripped down her cheek, blurring her vision slightly.</p><p>
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</p><p>"No no, that's not how it went. You brought them into this situation. You allowed them to be with you. You didn't give any warning to them. You allowed them to cause some havoc here, and now, they have to pay." The Emperor boomed at Luz, causing her to cry harder, her body shaking with fear.</p><p>
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</p><p>"This is all your fault, human. This is a world you don't belong in, and now this world is coming after everything you love." The Emperor stated, as he made his way towards the door. "Enjoy the next few hours. It'll be nice to see you break into pieces." And with that, the Emperor slammed the door behind him and vanished from sight, leaving Luz all alone once again. It was all too much to bear. Everything she just heard was horrifying. Everyone that Luz cares about, was gonna be hunted down, and nothing's gonna stop the Emperor from achieving his goals. Feeling herself crumble at the thought, she fell on her back, with the pain of her situation cutting her up more than it was before.</p><p>
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</p><p>"..I'm such an idiot...I've done it now haven't I..."</p><p>
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</p><p>That's all she was able to say before guilt overrode her body and the relentless sobbing began.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Reawaken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I present to you all chapter 6! I know it hasn't been long since I published chapter 5, but it felt like forever! Regardless, I'm finally hear to give you a new chapter. I didn't realize how short it was, so I apologize for it, but it is an important chapter, so take it for what it's worth. Anyways I'm done rambling, I hope you all enjoy!<br/>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As dawn broke through Amity's window and hit her eyes, the young witch shot straight up from her horrific dream. She took a moment to breath before realizing where she was. She let out a sigh of relief. "So all of that was just a dream..? Luz is safe?" Amity was about to close her eyes and rest again, but before she could, her eyes got a glimpse of the staff in the corner of her room, and her heart dropped. </p><p>
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</p><p>Getting back up, she stared at the staff with grief. All of the conflicting emotions that haunted her yesterday were returning quickly, but before she let them overtake her like they did yesterday, she shook her head and slapped her hand on her head.</p><p>
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</p><p>"No no! I can't think like that right now. I can't dwell on my stupid emotions anymore! Today's the day. I have to focus!" She said firmly to herself. She got up from her bed, and hobbled over to her closet to change her clothes. After taking a moment to change, she went for the door. Looking both ways, she saw that her parents weren't anywhere on the second floor, which was good in her favor. She needed to get the others up. </p><p>
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</p><p>Rushing over to Emira and Edric's room as fast but quietly as possibly was a little tricky. Because of the crutch, it made both a lot of noise and a lot of time to cover much ground. Thankfully, Amity was able to reach the room before any more noise was made. Twisting the door handle, she swiftly walked into their room, and saw both of them asleep still. Bonking both of their heads with her crutch, they jumped up from their beds. At first angry, they looked over to see what happened, before seeing it was Amity, knowing what she was doing.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Oh..hey mittens, I see you're all ready." Edric said, yawning in the process. "Yeah, let us get dressed, and we'll get out of here as fast as we can." Emira said after, giving Amity a slight smile, seeing how her face was still down. "Don't worry, we're still with you, we didn't forget." Emira said, smiling lightly to cheer up the young Blight.</p><p>
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</p><p>Giving a quick smirk, Amity nodded, turning away to let them change. She hoped it wouldn't take too long. She really didn't want to waste time at all. Every second counted, and she wasn't gonna take any risk with time. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I'll see if I can get outside and wait there." Amity said quietly, not waiting for a response from the two. Closing the door behind her, she looked around to see if the coast was clear. Once again, she didn't see any hint of her parents, but she heard them talking downstairs. She knew the front door was gonna be very hard to get by without them seeing her. Scoffing, she turned back to her room and thought of a plan to get out. </p><p>
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</p><p>She slipped back into her room, and lightly closed the door behind her. Turning to her window, she hobbled over and opened it as much as she could, hoping the noise wouldn't be too loud. It was a surprisingly breezy day in the Boiling Isles, and the sudden draft of air that entered Amity's room caused a lot of chills to run up her back. Shaking it off, she lifted her left hand and hoped that she would be able to make the arm big enough. </p><p>
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</p><p>As she performed the spell, she saw the abomination arm lift out of the ground, and struggled to rise up into the air. Through all of Amity's efforts, she was able to successfully get it to reach her window. Carefully climbing out, she commanded the arm to lower her to the ground, and it did so obediently.</p><p>
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</p><p>She circled around the manor, rushing over to the front area, hoping that her parents didn't hear her leave the house, or see her through a window. Her parents would be a big hindrance to this plan, and Amity did not want them in the way. Finally reaching the front, she sat down on the ground and let the breeze sooth her mind from the darkness plaguing it.</p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p>With all that has happened within the past few hours, the breeze was able to remind her that things are gonna get better. She always felt this way with the breeze. Feeling it brush through the little slits in her hair and soothingly pass by her made her feel secure, like things were really gonna get better.</p><p>
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</p><p>A rumble in a nearby bush snapped her out of the tranquil thoughts she was in, and directed her attention towards it. She heard muffle grunting within it, and she felt like she heard something similar before. As she listened in, the grunts became louder, and it all clicked to her.</p><p>
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</p><p>And as it did, she saw a small figure with a skull head and black body fell out of the bush. King. </p><p>
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</p><p>"King?!" Amity said, surprised. King looked up, and showed the same amount of surprise in his eyes "Amity…? That's your name right?"</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity nodded, while King proceeded to get back up and rush over to her. Before Amity could say another thing, she watched King jump on her leg and give her a hug. "It's good to finally see someone that I'm familiar with.." King said solemnly, gripping Amity tightly. Amity felt her heart ping in a bit of pain, noting that King must've been alone for the past few hours.</p><p>
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</p><p>"King...I know what happened at the Owl House….I'm so sorry.." Amity said, head down at the little guy, as his grip tightened. "How are you here?" Amity questioned, while King finally let go and looked up at the young witch.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I wasn't at the house when it happened. I was coming back from...an undisclosed location doing business." He said, trying his best to look serious. "When I was walking back, I heard screaming from the house, and bangs. I ran over as soon as I could, but when I finally got by the clearing…" King hesitated, trying his best to recall what he saw, but sadness kept his words locked in his throat. Amity placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping that would give him comfort to keep going.</p><p>
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</p><p>"...I saw them taking everyone away. T-they had a whole army there. The whole place was swarmed by them…they flew away in carriages and cages….with all of them locked inside.." King said blatantly. He hung his head down, while Amity pulled him closer to her knee again, hoping he would feel some warmth. He must've been in a lot of pain, alone, with nowhere to go. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I'm sorry to hear about that….it must've been a hard thing to witness…" Amity said, sadness trying to take over her again, but she shook her head. This was not the time to be sad. She grabbed King's paw, which made him look up at her. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Listen to me, they aren't done yet. Me, my siblings and some of Luz's friends are gonna get them back." Amity said firmly, hoping that would put some hope into the little guy. He sighed, and lowered his head again.</p><p>
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</p><p>"There's no way we're gonna be able to get in there after Luz's rescue. Security must've upgraded since." King said sadly, closing his eyes and shaking his head, before feeling Amity push his head back up to face her. </p><p>
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</p><p>"You may think that we won't get in, but I believe we can. Luz managed to do it and that place is heavily guarded as is. I'm sure we'll find a way to get in...we have to try. It's what Luz would do." Amity said, sighing and looking away. She hoped King would trust her word. She had self doubts as well, but she couldn't let it get to her. She needed to be brave, like Luz. She needed to stay strong. </p><p>
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</p><p>King sighed as well, nodding. "You're right, we have to try. For Luz and everyone there." King said with a lighter voice that made Amity smile. </p><p>
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</p><p>"That's the spirit little guy." Amity brought King to her leg again in an attempt to give some kind of hug. King giggled and gave a hug back, feeling the hope he lost come back to him. As they shared the moment together, they both heard the front door of the manor open, and walking out was Edric and Emira, with a confident smile on their faces.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright Amity, let's get going. We have no time to waste." Edric said, before Emira came over and noticed King. "Who's that? A lost dog?" Emira said, smiling at King. </p><p>
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</p><p>"He's King. He was with everyone before they got taken. He's here to help." Amity smiled, seeing the smiles on the other two grow. "Welcome to the team little guy, we'll fill you in on what's happening while heading over. Now let's get going, Luz isn't gonna save herself." Edric said, lighting the mood a little.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity got herself up again, and looked down at King, who was still gripping her pants. Smiling, she picked him up lightly and threw him on her back, noting how he was on Luz's back a lot. King was caught off guard at first, but found the gesture to give comfort to him. It made him feel secure, like with Luz. He gripped on, and pointed forwards. "To Luz!" He shouted, causing a giggle from everyone, before they all threw their arms up as well and joined in.</p><p>
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</p><p>"To Luz!"</p><p> </p><p>
  
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  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Breaking In</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! Here is chapter 7 of Missing for all you readers! Once again it feels like it's been forever, but it's only been a week. Idk what's with time for me, but it hasn't really been flying.</p><p>For those who are unaware, I made a second story on here! It's called Where it Hurts The Most, and it's another Owl House fic with angst and fluff. It's only one chapter, but you should definitely check it out. I'm proud of how it came out! You can find it on my profile!</p><p>Anyways, with that out of the way, let's continue on with this story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p><p>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gus please relax. They're on their way." Willow said to a pacing Gus who was freaking out. The two have been at Hexside, waiting for Amity and her siblings for at least 30 minutes now and they didn't know when the trio could be arriving. Gus grew concerned about it, hoping that they would get here soon. He didn't want to waste so much time, especially when it involved the life of Luz and everyone else held up with the Emperor.</span>
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  <span>"Are you certain? You've been telling me that for the past 30 minutes! What if something happened? What if the coven heard about our plan somehow? What if we're next?!" Gus said frantically, throwing his hands up on his head and taking a breather. Willow walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.</span>
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  <span>"I know Amity, she would do anything to be here, and I'm sure nobody heard about our talk yesterday. Everything's gonna be fine." Willow said soothingly, giving Gus a little shoulder rub before letting go. Gus took in a deep breath, before heading over near the stairs and taking a seat.</span>
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  <span>"I just hope they get here soon." Gus said solemnly, with his head down as he went into thought. Willow quietly joined him on the stairs and rubbed his back for comfort</span>
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  <span>"Me too Gus, but I'm sure they're on their way." Willow said, looking over at Gus to get no response from him, as he stayed in thought.</span>
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  <span>Both of the kids didn't get good sleep last night. Their dreams were plagued with nightmares about the plan for today. They were afraid of what could happen today. They were scared about failing. They couldn't afford to fail. Failure to them meant the loss of Luz, and neither of them would be able to stomach that. Rummaging through her thoughts, Willow shook her head and focused on Gus, who still had his head down. Willow continued to rub his back to provide some kind of comfort. </span>
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  <span>It only took a few minutes after that for everyone else to arrive at hexside, to the delight of Willow and Gus. As they got up to meet with them, they noticed King on Amity's back, and they were shocked. King was happy to see Gus and Willow, who were now approaching him.</span>
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  <span>"King?! You're still here?!" Gus said, as he walked up to Amity to talk to him. "Yes I am, and I'm here to help get Luz back!" He stated, throwing his arm up, which caused a giggle from the twins. </span>
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  <span>"Yeah, Amity here found him in a bush while she waited for us. As someone who was in the castle before, he'll be a help with navigating." Edric said, while King nodded. "I can't say I completely remember where everything is, but my memory is still there to help a little bit." King said.</span>
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  <span>"Alright, we got no time to waste. Before we can get going, does anyone have anything to plan?" Amity asked, slamming her fist in her palm and looking at everyone around.</span>
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  <span>"Well, I do know that usually at the entrance of the castle there's at least two guards to greet anyone coming in. With an illusion spell, we could get them distracted long enough to possibly sneak in." Gus said, while providing an illusion spell to show what he meant. </span>
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  <span>"I could use my thorn spells to trap or knock out guards. I believe they're strong enough to at least hold down regular guards." Willow brought up as well, having Gus bring her information to the illusion spell. </span>
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  <span>"Alright then. I think this is how it should work out. All of us will stick together until we find out where someone is being held, then you four will stay together to keep a distraction, while me and King head down to get them." Amity said with confidence while her siblings gave a queasy look. </span>
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  <span>"Uh mittens...I don't know about that. With that broken leg of yours, maybe someon-" Emira said before being cut off by Amity.</span>
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  <span>"Em, you have to trust me here. I will be fine, I promise. Sure I won't be able to move as fast, but I will be fine." Amity said with seriousness on her face. "I have to do this. It's for Luz." Emira and Edric looked at each other and sighed with defeat. They knew how much Amity cared about the human, and knew this meant a lot to her. She was the one who found out about the capture, she was wanting to help them out as much as she could. "Alright mittens, we'll let you, but you gotta promise us you will be okay." Edric said, looking at Amity with a pleading look that caught her off guard. </span>
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  <span>"I promise Edric, I'll be fine." Amity said while placing her hand on his shoulder to ease him up. Amity looking back at everyone brandished the staff. "Alright everyone, now let's not waste anymore time and get over there….as soon as we figure out someone who can fly.." Amity said shyly. She didn't know how to fly a staff, despite the promises that her parents would teach her soon. Gus and Willow shook their heads. "We're with you Amity, we don't know either.</span>
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  <span>Edric stepped forwards in front of Amity and looked down at Amity. "I can do it, I know how to fly a staff." He said, surprising both Emira and Amity. "Since when did you know how to fly one?" Emira said, surprised. </span>
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  <span>"I kinda taught myself how to with dad's staff before. I'm still surprised he hasn't found out yet." Edric admitted, giving a smirk down at Amity, who returned it.</span>
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  <span>"Alright then, you're up front then. Em, you should be behind him, I'll be behind you, King can hang on my back and you two will be behind me." Amity ordered, pointing at Willow and Gus as they nodded. Emira gave a light chuckle and looked down at Amity.</span>
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  <span>"You know, you would make a great leader of some kind." She kept chuckling, while Amity looked at her with a frown. "Don't go there right now."</span>
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  <span>All in unison, everybody got on the staff. Edric in front flying it, Emira behind him, Amity and King and then Willow and Gus. There were a lot of people on the staff, but they managed to work it out so that everyone fit on perfectly. Edric looked back to make sure everyone was secure, and with one swift motion, they were airborne, heading straight for the Emperor.</span>
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  <span>The flight there was, for the most part, pretty silent, as everyone was in their own minds thinking about what's gonna happen. Edric mainly concentrated on flying. He didn't lie when he said he could do it, it's just been a while since he tried it last and he was a bit rusty. Although he did fine flying now, he still put all of his attention on the flight. His mind did remind him of the mission ahead, and he did fear for Amity. As much as he liked to tease and mess with his little sister, he loved her dearly. He never felt right being prioritized over her when it came to their parents, and he always made sure that he gave her some kind of recognition with her hard work. Same with Emira, she loved Amity and would do anything to help her little sister out when needed, but that didn't stop her from teasing her every now and then, as sibling love.</span>
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  <span>Amity kept her mind straight and focused on the mission ahead. She constantly nagged at her mind that she couldn't afford to be distracted or emotional this entire mission. She needed to stay focus and get as much information as she could, to rescue everyone. She knew that this was gonna be difficult, she knew that it would take a lot to pull this off, but Amity was determined to leave the place with everyone, with no exception. She was either gonna rescue everyone and escape or die trying. No other option.</span>
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  <span>King was fixated on the mission too, but being very small compared to everyone else, he knew he wouldn't have much of a chance fighting, but he wouldn't let that stop him from trying at least. He thought about how brave Luz was battling the Emperor and all of his guards, and he knew he needed to be brave too. Luz, Eda and Lilith depended on it. He remembered where Eda was kept last time, and he figured that someone would be there again. He wasn't ready to see the damage that has been done on everyone, but he didn't have much of a choice.</span>
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  <span>Willow and Gus were trying their best to be confident in this mission, and even though they pulled that off well, inside, they were really scared. They didn't care about being caught and being put in danger themselves, they worried about the stakes that were up. If they messed up, or something went wrong, then they are putting Luz, Eda and Lilith's life in jeopardy. They knew that they were already in trouble when they were captured, but they didn't entirely know if they were on death row. If that isn't the case, then a mess up in the plan could potentially end their lives, and they feared that immensely.</span>
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  <span>As the sun started settling high over the Boiling Isles, it shined throughout the land, letting land be seen from miles, and within that radius was their destination. The surrounding walls and sharp rocks with the flames of the tower above the castle gave shudders through everyone, knowing full well what they're getting into, but they were ready for anything. As they closed in on the structure above, Edric stopped from going any further, surprising everyone.</span>
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  <span>"What's going on Ed?" Amity asked, slightly irritated. "Look down there." Edric pointed at the sides of the complex and despite it being hard to see from the height they were at, Amity saw a bunch of white dots around and knew what they were. </span>
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  <span>"There are guards littered everywhere!" Willow said, baffled by the number of white specks she saw. "I think that's more than 2 guards Gus!" King said, looking back at Gus who was looking down in embarrassment. "I forgot to take in the other parts of the Castle too." He said shyly, while everyone else sighed. "Alright, we need a new plan. What can we do to get by all of that?" Amity said, while waving her hand down at the ground. Gus took a moment to think of a way to get by all of the guards, and then an idea clicked into his head. Bringing his finger up, he casts an illusion spell upon everyone but King, and when the cloud clears, they all saw themselves in Emperor Coven's uniform. Emira chuckles to herself while looking back at Gus. "Smart thinking kid, they won't expect a thing!" She stated.</span>
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  <span>They lowered themselves onto the ground away from the castle so they didn't get caught. When they got off the staff, Amity realized something. Her broken leg. That would be a dead giveaway. "Gus, how am I supposed to get by when they could see me limping with this crutch?" Amity grew a little concerned about the plan, fearing that she wouldn't be able to get by the first group of guards, but Gus waved his hand. "Don't worry, I got it." He casted another spell on Amity, but to her, it looked like nothing changed. </span>
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  <span>"Uh, Gus?" She asked, confused. Once again, Gus waved his hand in the air. "I just casted a spell on you that'll make you look different to everyone else for a little bit. To yourself, you look no different, but to us, you don't have your crutch at all. You're standing normally for us." He said, while he looked around and saw everyone else nodding. "Yeah, you're covered Mittens." Edric stated. </span>
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  <span>"Uh, can anyone explain why I'm not dressed up?" King asked, concerned, not knowing what's gonna happen to him. "We're 'guards' now. If anyone comes up and asks us what's going on, we'll say we found you." Gus brought up, seeing King ease up, but still a hint of concern stayed in his eyes. "Alright, if you say so." Gus pulled another spell on King and King found himself cuffed. "Just to look authentic and more believable. You should walk in front of everyone." Gus added along, while King nodded. "Alright guys, let's get going." Edric said. </span>
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  <span>The group walked over to the castle walls and practically held their breaths when they passed it and entered the complex. In front of them was the bridge, which was extended, much to their luck. They focused on the castle in front of them as they slowly trotted over to the entrance, but took peaks around them, seeing the sides filled with guards doing tasks and watching out. They felt eyes follow them, feeling as though at any minute, an alarm would go off and compromise their position, but they kept their composure. Two guards were at the main door and as the group came close, the guards stepped forwards.</span>
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  <span>"Well, what do you have here?" One of them stated, looking down at King with cuffs. "I found the little scoundrel roaming the streets! He had the Owl Lady's staff and tried to make a run for it. Luckily I was able to catch him and add him alongside the others." Edric said to the guards, keeping his best voice possible. He sounded confident and normal, but in reality, he was freaking out internally. He was praying that they would buy his bluff. The guards looked at each other and laughed. "Good work! I'll open these doors for you and you can bring him down with everyone else. Give that staff to Belos. I'm sure he'd make something good out of it." The guard said, chuckling with the joke. Amity felt anger drive through her blood, but she focused on the mission. She couldn't afford any mishaps. </span>
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  <span>The door swung open, and the group walked in and was met with a hallway, filled with guards passing by. The golden and white design shined through the entire complex as the group looked on with awe on the place. "This place never fails to impress me with the design." Willow whispered. Gus nodded while Amity looked ahead with intent. "Come on, we didn't come here to waste time. We gotta find everyone." Amity said blatantly. "Alright King, do you know where they would be kept?" Amity whispered down to King. </span>
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  <span>"The basement was where Eda was held last time, I'd assume they would be there again. It's our best bet" King replied quickly, keeping his eyes on the guards passing by. "Alright guys, let's get going. We gotta get to them." Amity said while walking forwards.</span>
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  <span>They all followed behind her, looking for the stairs that would lead them to the captured.</span>
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  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Searching</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! I bring to you chapter 8 of Missing! This is a big chapter, not only in terms of the amount of words, but what the chapter delivers, so it's very important. Not gonna lie, I barely proofread this so there could be some typos, but I'll come back and fix any that are there.</p><p>Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'll see you next time, peace ✌</p><p>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>In the midst of work within the Emperor's Coven, a couple of frauds roam the halls, looking for an entrance to the basement. A way that would lead them to Luz.</p><p>
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</p><p>The relentless colors of white and gold, alongside with all the tapestries and windows depicting the Emperor started to make Amity feel sick and disgusted. Each image that she passed by that revolved around the Emperor made the flame in her gut intensify. She wanted nothing more than to have him fall, along with the empire. </p><p>
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</p><p><em> I wanted to go here my whole life? </em>Amity thought to herself, disgusted at herself more than anything. After everything the Coven has done, to both Luz and everyone else, Amity would rather die than to join it.</p><p>
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</p><p>They had a few close calls with other members of the Coven. Each encounter had them being questioned with what they were doing. Ed was the person who spoke up every time and he managed to convince every single guard that came by for questioning. The group was seriously grateful with him, as they wouldn't be able to sound as convincing as he was. </p><p>
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</p><p>During one of the encounters with the guards. Ed managed to ask the guard which direction the basement was, by stating the complex is always confusing with the same hallways. He wasn't lying with that statement, but he knew it was a very risky thing to ask, and he prayed that the guard shrugged it off. Thankfully, the guard did, and pointed in the direction the basement was in, but that wasn't without a suspicious look from the guard as they passed by.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Ed. That was too close. Next time if you have to ask a question like that, make it not so suspicious." Emira whispered to Edric, who was looking back to make sure they weren't being tailed. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Don't worry, we got by, and we know where to go. According to the guard, it's at this coming up left." He stated, while motioning at everyone to make sure they were paying attention. As they crept closer to the hallway, Edric stopped, causing everyone to stop as well. </p><p>
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</p><p>"What is it?" Amity asked, giving Edric a confused look. Edric leaned in for a second, and then looked back at the group.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I heard guards over there. Give me a second." Edric motioned at them to stay put, and he swiftly looked over at the corner. Beyond the corner, he saw the stairway to the basement, but in front of it were about three guards talking amongst themselves. He sighed and looked back at the group. </p><p>
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</p><p>"There's three guards right there. If they see us all heading to the basement, they'll know something's up." Edric said, while pointing at the corner. Willow sighed and looked up. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Is this where we break character?" Willow stated, while flexing her fingers around. "Let's try something first before we consider that." Gus said, while looking at Edric and Emira. "Alright, I think it's time to use our deceiving skills." As he said that, he summoned an illusion spell that resulted in a guard appearing in front. Taking the hint, Edric and Emira summoned their own.</p><p>
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</p><p>"We're gonna run these guys down the hall and try to convince the real guards they're needed by the Emperor, got it?" Gus questioned, while seeing the nod in Edric and Emira. "We're ready."</p><p>
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</p><p>The illusions started making a run for it around the corner, and made a rush to the guards in the doorway. </p><p>
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</p><p>"We need your assistance right now! The Emperor sent us to grab you guys!" One of the illusions said. "Yeah, the Emperor wishes to speak with you guys for some help!" Another illusion stated. In instinct, two guards walked forwards to join the illusions, but one was hesitant. He looked at the illusions with a suspicious look and stayed where he was.</p><p>
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</p><p>"We need someone to watch the doors though." The guard said, looking at the illusions with a stern look. The illusions turned to the guard, and nodded.</p><p>
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</p><p>"That's fine then, you stay here and keep guard. You two, follow us!" The illusions waved their arm in the air and started rushing down the hall, making a right turn. The guards followed suit until they were out of sight. Gus and Edric gave each other a light high five before Amity interjected.</p><p>
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</p><p>"What about the third guard? What are we gonna do about him?" Amity asked, looking at Gus. Willow stepped forwards past the group and to the corner.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Let me take care of this."</p><p>
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</p><p>The group watched as Willow walked towards the remaining guard who was sitting by. The guard noticed her as she came close and turned to face her. "What are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be out, catching prisoners?" He questioned, getting tense by the situation that was in front of him. Without a sound, Willow summoned a thorn root right in front of the guard, surprising him, and before he could react, the thorns gripped his head, and slammed it against the wall, knocking him out. The rest of the group watched in shock, seeing how smoothly and effortlessly that went.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Mittens, remind me to not get on her bad side." Edric said, cowering behind the corner. Amity chuckled, seeing the improvement Willow has gotten since they were little. She was proud of Willow of how far she came. </p><p>
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  <em> Now that's my friend right there </em>
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</p><p>The group moved forwards and regrouped with Willow, who was looking at the guard passed out on the ground. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I don't know how long he'll be out for, but I'm sure the second he gets up, he'll raise some alarm, so we better get going." As Willow finished her sentence, the illusion spell of the costumes disappeared, leaving everyone exposed in the hallway for any guard to wander up. Everyone ducked into the stairwell before anyone could come. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Just in time. I won't be able to make another spell while my illusion guard is still running." We'll have to be careful down here." Gus said, while looking at everyone.</p><p>
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</p><p>"C'mon guys, we're almost there. Don't lose focus now." Amity said, as she limped down the stairs, heading in the darkness.</p><p>
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</p><p>The trip down took a bit longer than what they expected. Obviously one reason why was because of Amity. She was going as fast as she could, but she couldn't do much with her crutch. If she slipped and fell down the stairs, she would be done for in the mission. The basement was pretty deep too. Since it was also the prison basically, there was a lot going on, and everyone knew that they would have to be ready for anything that they may encounter.</p><p>
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</p><p>When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, they were greeted with the stone walls and gravel covered floors. A dark hallway led them to a T intersection, and beyond that, the group couldn't see what was happening. Everyone took a gulp, knowing how deep they were now, and looked at each other for the next move. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright, well I guess this is where me and King go off to find somebody. You guys look too, but make sure to cause a distraction so no guards come my way." Amity said, with a slight frown. Without warning, she was pulled into a hug by Emira, who gripped her tightly. Edric soon joined in too, giving his little sister a hug. Amity was taken aback from it, until she heard their breathing. It was shaky, and ragged. The two were scared. Scared of losing her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Hey, hey hey..guys, I'm gonna be okay, I promise you." Amity reassured, as she returned the hug to both of them, who started gripping the witch a little tighter. Edric and Emira care about Amity, even though sometimes they seemed a bit cruel. They loved her and they would do anything to make sure she was safe. Knowing that Amity is gonna go off with King to find someone made the twins scared. They wouldn't be there for her if something was to happen. They didn't want to lose her. They wouldn't be able to live with themselves knowing they weren't there for her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Please...mittens...be careful out there.." Edric said, looking at Amity with a few tears in his eyes. Amity gave a smirk, and wiped them out of his eyes. </p><p>
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</p><p>"I promise. Just have my back." Amity said, as she backed off and hoisted King on her shoulders again. Edric nodded and looked forwards.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Alright Amity, it looks clear. Get going now.." Edric said, while pointing out the doorway to the hall. Amity nodded and moved forwards, but looked back at Edric and Emira one last time.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I'll be safe. I promise. Stay safe for me too." Amity said before hobbling forwards through the hall, taking a left and disappearing. Edric gave a sigh before Emira patted him on the back. "It's gonna be okay. She will be fine." Emira said, before hearing some noise from another floor.</p><p>
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</p><p>"We got no time to waste, c'mon let's get going." Willow stated, as she moved forwards. Everyone else nodded, and followed suit. </p><p>
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</p><p>-------------------------</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity rushed through many of the hallways and dungeons that she went through down in the basement. She was surprised with how fast she was managing to go. Despite being bound to that crutch, she was managing to gain ground. She didn't complain though. The faster she went, the quicker she was getting to finding someone.</p><p>
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</p><p>King hopped off her back minutes after they departed from the group, and ran ahead of Amity to be a lookout for anything coming. For the basement being the prison, there wasn't many guards patrolling around. Amity suspected that it was because of the extra security upstairs, but she couldn't help and think that the Coven had their eyes on the captured party instead. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>As Amity thought this, she saw King turned around and started to frantically point at the turn that was in front of them.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"There's a guard coming! What do we do?!" He squealed, panicking and looking for a place to hide. Amity listened in, and focused on the sounds in front of her. The faint tapping of footsteps slowly grew in volume and Amity anticipated the guard to turn the corner at any moment. Seconds pass by, sweat dripped down her head, and her eyes stayed fixated on the corner until she saw a flash of white enter her vision. Within seconds, she summoned an abomination arm from the ground, and it swiftly pinned the guard to the wall, knocking him out in the process. Amity walked up to the guard, verified that he was out, and ordered the arm to throw him in one of the empty cells.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"D-Did you get him?" King asked, crawling out from a turned over box he found to hide in. He looked over and saw the guard being thrown in one of the cells, and Amity shutting the door. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I got him alright." She said, giving a light smirk to calm King down. King took another look at the guard. He swiftly jumped up, and ran in front of Amity.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Alright, let's get going." He said, walking forwards as Amity followed behind.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Thankfully after that, Amity didn't have to resort to using an abomination again. Every guard that she encountered, she was able to let pass by, or sneak by to another hallway. Their hearts were pounding each time they did this. They felt the pressure that was growing on the two, and they both held their breath as they managed to get by each guard undetected. The two continued to walk throughout the stone halls filled with cells for about 5 minutes looking for any sign of life. Passing by one more hall, the two soon came across another stairwell that led them deeper into the darkness. the two looked at each other, sighing at the sight.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Do you think it's worth a shot?" King asked, but as he did, Amity heard something very faint come from the stairwell. Leaning in the stairwell, she held her breath, and waited for another sound. Eventually, she heard an echo climb up the stairwell and enter her ears. She couldn't fully discern what it was, it was too muffled to tell, but it told her one thing.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Someone was down there.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Looking at King, she nodded, as a smirk grew on her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Yeah. It is. I think someone's down there." Amity said, as she turned towards the stairwell and limped down. The stairs this time around were shorter, and as she climbed further and further down, the echos grew in volume, and slowly Amity started hearing it more clearly. It sounded like it was someone...crying. Amity's heart started beating faster and she rushed as fast as she could down the steps. She didn't know who it was, but she knew that it had to be someone she was looking for. There was no way it wasn't. Amity gritted her teeth as she felt the pain in her foot start to come through, with the rush and movement bothering it. She didn't care about the pain, she kept her focus deadset on the bottom that was approaching fast. Nothing was gonna slow her down.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>As she touched the rocky ground of the hallway, she heard the sound once more, and the sound was unmistakable. Those whimpers were the same whimpers she heard many times already. The same whimpers that have been haunting Amity this entire time. The sound of crying that made her heart tear up in pain. The same cries that showed her where to go. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It was coming from Luz. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity looked ahead of the hallway and used the whimpering to guide her where to go. She continued straight, with King following her from behind. There were no turns. The hallway only led straight, and at the end was where Luz was. Amity huffed out every breath she took. She darted down the hall, ignoring the pain that was settling in her foot, ignoring the amount of noise she was making, ignoring it all, except the whimpering. She felt her heart race with adrenaline, that pumped her through the pain, and she focused ahead. Nothing slowed her down as she charged towards the sounds. Towards Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The sounds got closer, and closer. Amity grunted as she felt her foot pang with more pain, but she ignored it once more, caring more about getting to Luz than herself. She wasn't gonna let her own pain slow her down. Not now. She couldn't afford it.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She heard no more whimpering, and no more cries, because she reached the end of the hallway. She was greeted with a door to her left and one in front of her. Taking the one to the left, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Amity wasn't ready to see what was inside the door. She was scared to see what she would find. She was very nervous, but she didn't want fear to hold her back. She <em> couldn't </em>let that happen. Taking a breath in, she swiftly swung the door open and stumbled in. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The room was a mess. That was the first thing she noticed. There were boxes and pieces of metal littered around. Cobwebs and dirt were scattered around and the dim light basically blinded her as she stepped forwards from the darkness. When she refocused, she was met with a hunched figure. The figure was shaking, they had chains on their ankles and wrist, and they were wearing a purple/white top, with a hood. Amity took a step closer, feeling her heart beat a million beats a second, and opened her mouth.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Luz…?" She asked, and the figure spun around.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity let out a gasp, and felt her eye fill up with tears immediately. What she saw in front of her was something she would never forget. An image that burned itself within her brain, with no intentions of ever disappearing.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>In front of the witch, was Luz, chained up on the ground, all battered up. The girl looked horrified, seeing Amity in front of her. One eye was bruised up, she had a tiny bit of blood coming from her mouth and her limbs were covered in scratches and bruises. Amity took a step closer to Luz, feeling the ache in her heart intensify. Luz started to tear up as she processed what was happening.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Amity….what….what are you doing here?" Luz said weakly, with urgency in her question. Amity started to shake, and moved closer to the human. Her mind was clouded at this point. The witch couldn't think straight, her mind was static. Constant barrage of thoughts and inner voices kept the witch from uttering a word. All that she was able to do was let her emotions out. Despite wanting to stay as stable as she could, she couldn't help it.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The witch hobbled over to the human, lowered herself to the ground and gripped Luz in a hug. She couldn't stop shaking, she couldn't stop the tears from relentlessly dripping from her eyes. She couldn't stop the emotions that were overtaking her at the current moment. She couldn't stop the pain that she felt. She couldn't stop it all from happening.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>All she could do was hug the girl, and wish to never let go.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! Here is chapter 9 of Missing! Now this one is an interesting chapter, definitely one of my favorites, so I hope all of you enjoy this one! I'm pretty sure most of you have been waiting for a moment like this since the beginning, so I hope it pays of for your sake. Anyways I'll stop rambling, go ahead and read it! I'll see you next time!<br/>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>The two girls held each other for quite some time. They couldn't control it, even if they wanted to. They were so emotionally wrecked that all they could do was hold each other to provide the comfort they needed. King watched from the door, letting the girls get their emotions out. He knew they desperately needed it right now.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity was both happy and devastated. She found Luz. She found her alive. Amity couldn't be more happier to know that. All this time, during the ride up to the Castle to going down the stairs, her mind was going wild. Her thoughts didn't give her a break. They kept reminding the girl about the human's fate, and how she was probably dead at this point. She kept herself straight as best as she could, as she got closer and closer to Luz, but she couldn't help but feel like she was too late. Seeing Luz in front of her, alive made Amity so much more happier, but it wasn't without its downsides</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Luz had taken a beating. She had injuries all over her body, and her weak voice and puffy eyes made Amity hate herself more. She could've helped Luz before. She could've possibly saved her from all of this, but she didn't, and Amity couldn't help but put the blame on herself for all that has happened. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I-I….I thought I was never gonna see you again.." Amity whimpered, ruffling Luz's hair as the human tightened her grip. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"You-you can't be here Amity...you got to get out of here while you can...before he gets you.." Luz whispered, feeling the pain in her heart intensify, remembering the Emperor's words from hours ago. Amity gave her the strictest look she could muster up.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Don't you dare say that. I am getting you out of here." Amity stated firmly, looking at Luz, who was looking at her with pleading eyes. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"No...you don't understand Amity...he's coming after you. He's gonna be coming after everyone...because of me.." Luz sobbed, lowering her head down.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"What do you mean?" Amity questioned, looking over at King, who was still at the door. Luz pointed forwards, and Amity looked where she pointed, and saw something that made her gut squirm.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"No.." Amity said, desperately trying to understand what was happening. Luz shook her head, choking on her sobs.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"He managed to repair the door….he's charging that portal…soon, he'll be able to get into any world…" Luz choked out, gripping Amity tighter as more tears rolled out. "He's going after my mom, and then Willow, Gus and you….and it's because of me…" Luz said before throwing her face on Amity's shoulder and sobbing harder. Amity felt her heart ache and her gut twist. The fear she had throughout all of this started to ramp up as she started to understand the severity of the situation.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The Emperor managed to rebuild the portal, and it was almost ready to be used. Amity didn't know what he was gonna use the portal for other than to go to the human realm, but Amity knew it couldn't be for anything good. She shuddered at the thought of her being a target by the Emperor too, but she didn't put too much thought into it. Right now, her main concern was Luz, and she wanted to get her out of here. She placed her hands on her head and lifted it up to face her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here. We're gonna shut down that portal, and see how we can take it back, and we are gonna get out of here with everyone else." Amity said, looking at Luz. She noticed her expression. It was still full of fear. Amity knew that probably wasn't so convincing as she thought, but Luz was horrified. She was frozen in place, but as Amity put more time into trying to figure out what was happening, the more noticeable it was that Luz wasn't focused on her, but on what was behind her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I would love to see your attempts to do that Blight."</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity turned around in surprise, looking back at the door, only to see Emperor Belos, towering over her. She saw his eye peering through his mask, as he glazed down at the witch and human. Luz was staring up with horror, whimpering. Amity heard this, and her shock changed to anger. She was tired of hearing Luz's fear. She was ready to stand up for her. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Emperor." Amity said, coldly spitting the words like venom. The Emperor chuckled, as he peered down at the witch.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"What a surprise to see you here Blight. I didn't expect to see you so soon and unannounced." The Emperor said chuckling, making Amity's blood run cold. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I'm here getting my friends back." Amity said coldly. The Emperor chuckled and pointed at Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"You mean this criminal here? She has caused so much damage here. She deserves what she's getting right no-" </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"NO SHE DOESN'T!" Amity boomed, cutting the Emperor off and surprising him. She summoned an abomination and charged it at him, but Belos quickly took care of it. Amity was huffing with anger, staring up at the Emperor with nothing but hatred and anger. The Emperor chuckled once more and turned his attention to Amity. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Amity, let me show you something real quick." He stated, and Amity saw darkness emanate from him. It quickly surrounded her, and she was left in the dark. She looked around, and found the Emperor behind her, looking in her direction.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Do you understand what you are doing? You're really about to give up your spot to the Emperor's Coven? For this human?" He stated, and a picture of Luz appeared to his side, as Amity listened in. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"It's noble and respectable for you to do this for her and everyone else, but face it. At some point, she's gonna have to go home. If you were to save her, it would only be a matter of time before she left, and I don't think after all of this she'll want to return." He stated, as a picture of Luz walking through the portal door popped up. Amity closed her eyes and tried to ignore the Emperor's words. She didn't want to think about Luz having to leave. That was one thing she didn't want to happen, and as much as she denied and shook her head, his words spoke the truth, and it hurt her more than anything.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"And what about your parents?" How would they feel when they find out that their youngest daughter snuck in to the Castle to save a wanted criminal? They would surely be disappointed now, would they?" He remarked, and Amity closed her eyes tighter. She tried her hardest to ignore her thoughts surrounding her parents. She knew what they would think of her after this. She knew of the consequences they would put if they found out, but she didn't think of it, to help her push through, but now she's being forced to, and it clawed at her anxiety more and more.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"You have a garenteed spot at the Emperor's Coven right now. We would be thrilled to have you be one of our top leaders. It would be of good interest, since we just lost our previous leader.." The Emperor sighed while Amity thought about Lilith and her betrayal. She heard all about it, and she knew that the Emperor wasn't pleased about it.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Why don't I offer this. If you leave, pretend that none of this happened and leave the human behind, I won't say a word to your parents, and you'll keep your spot in the Emperor's Coven. What do you say to that.?" The Emperor offered, offering a hand gesture to Amity.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The witch kept her eyes fixated on the ground, not making a sound. She thought about the offer and knew what he was trying to do. It was one of his tricks. She already knew that she lost her spot, and that her parents probably already know, but she knows that he wants her to accept so he can get her while she's off guard. As much as that did sound nice, it was not her goal anymore. She didn't care about the coven. She didn't care about the consequences. All she cared about was Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"No." She said coldly, causing the Emperor to jump back a little surprised.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"What?! You're telling me you don't want this?! Isn't it your dream to join the Emperor's coven?" The Emperor boomed, while Amity had no reaction to it. She saw the anger emanate from his eyes, as she stared down at him.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"It <em> was </em>my dream. I once wanted to join, but someone came into my life and made my life clear." Amity smiled lightly, while thinking about Luz. "I decline your offer. Whatever it takes, i'm taking Luz back home." She glared up at the Emperor who stared down enraged. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Wrong decision Blight girl." The Emperor said, and he slowly raised his hand up. Amity stood still, and closed her eyes. If she died here, she accepted it. She died trying to help Luz, and maybe that was enough for her. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Ah! What the-" The Emperor shouted. Amity opened her eyes, and saw that she was back in the room. When she looked forwards, she saw the Emperor stumbling back as King climbed all over his body.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"How do you like this huh?!" King said. While jabbing the Emperor with his sharp paws. He crawled up to the Emperor's face, and swiftly jabbed his paws within his eyes. The Emperor shouted in pain and stumbled back, falling to the ground. Amity swiftly turned around to Luz, who was looking up to Amity, smiling. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Thank you Amity...that means alot to me.." Luz said, as tears filled her eyes again. Amity nodded and got close to her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Thank me later. Right now, we need to get you out of here." Amity said, pointing her finger up. She swiftly cast an ice spell on the chains that held Luz down and with one tap, they shattered into pieces, and held her hand down for Luz. Luz smiled at Amity, and got up. She looked at Amity and saw how courageous she was right now, and she felt her face lightly blush, but this didn't last too long, as the moment she got up, she was grabbed down by mini hands coming from the ground.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Turning around, Amity saw that the Emperor was back at his feet, holding King by the collar with one hand. Using the other, he cast a spell on Amity, throwing her to the ground and pinning her. Pain shot through her leg as she crashed to the rocky floor, and the Emperor chuckled at the sight.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>He threw King to the side, causing him to crash into some wooden boxes off to the side, knocking him out. Luz wiggled and fought with all her strength to break free from the arms that held her down, but their grip was tight, and she couldn't shake them off.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Such a shame that someone with such potential would throw away everything." The Emperor said, while walking over to Amity and motioning to her leg. "That kind of decision is unacceptable here in the Boiling Isles. I guess I'll have to teach you a valuable lesson about appreciating the things you're given in life." He snarled at Amity, before summoning a bunch of more little demon arms around her cast. Luz looked on in horror, as she knew what he was about to do.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"No! Please! Leave her alone! Do something to me, not her!" Luz begged, feeling her tears roll down her face as she witnessed the horror in front of her. The Emperor laughed at Luz, before directing his attention back at Amity.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"This may hurt a little." He remarked sarcastically. The arms then lunged at Amity's leg and her leg shot up in immediate pain. She screamed, unable to handle the pain internally. She tried to move anything in her body, to get away from the pain that was being put onto her, but was unable to because of The Emperor. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>He didn't stop there. Laughing at the pain he was causing, he commanded the arms to slowly put pressure on the leg, and that caused Amity to scream more. The constant feeling of pain and the added pressure made her leg feel on fire. The endless waves of pain that shot through Amity made her wish that she was dead. She wiggled as much as she could. She squirmed and twisted and did everything she possibly thought of, but the spell kept her down, and she couldn't do anything but endure the pain and watch.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The hands soon pointed their claws to the cast, and started to push. The sharp claws started digging through the cast at a steady pace, while Amity screamed in pain. Her eyes were shut tightly. Streams of tears came running down her face, as the pain started reaching the point of unbearable. The claws soon reached skin, and Amity felt her entire world flicker out. She became light headed from all the pain she was enduring, and she was feeling herself lose the urge to stay conscious. She stared up at the Emperor, who was looking down, enjoying every second of pain she was enduring.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>She then turned her head as much as she could to Luz. She saw the human watching in horror, trying her best to break away from the hands that held her down. She looked at Amity in her eyes, her tears streaming relentlessly down her face as she saw her friend enduring endless hell of pain right in front of her. Amity saw the pain that Luz was enduring, and in an attempt to make the human girl feel a little better, she smiled weakly. She did the best she could to help Luz, and she didn't know what was gonna happen to everyone, but she was content. She did her best to help Luz. She managed to see her one last time, and comfort her as much as she could. She did it all for her, and in that moment, staring down in Luz's eyes, she would die for her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Before the darkness consumed Amity, there was a flash in her peripheral vision. She couldn't see what was happening, but she saw the face Luz made. The face of pure shock. Amity felt the grip on her leg disappear and she felt the pain subsided, allowing her to regain herself and take a breather. The spell disappeared and she slowly lifted her head, trying to understand what just happened. She turned around to only see the Emperor on the ground behind her, flat on his face. Turning back to the front, she looked through the doorway, and started to smile.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>In the doorway, she saw Gus, Willow and her older siblings, but not only that, she saw the two figures of Eda and Lilith as well. The two were also battered up with wounds littered all over their bodies, but they showed no signs of any weakness holding them down. Gus and Willow rushed over to Amity, helping her back up, and then Amity saw Luz, smiling just as much as the witch was. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Backup had arrived.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Battle chapter next? Battle chapter next. </p><p>I will be reviewing chapter 10 in my documents and making sure I can make it as perfect as I can. I know you guys have been waiting for the showdown since the beginning and I don't want to disappoint, so I'll be working on that. Thanks for reading this week, and I'll see you all next week!</p><p>Also I have been behind on making drawings for these chapters, but once I can I'll he adding to them soon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Showdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Holy crap guys, I am so sorry to keep you waiting. I can't bullshit any of you right now, this is all on me. I'm sorry to keep you waiting for longer than I thought, but I'm here now finally giving you chapter 10!</p><p> This is the highly anticipated chapter, and I did my best to make sure it will please everyone. I'm probably gonna keep reading it to see if I can fix anything. Feel free to hit me with some constructive criticism with the chapter. I'll look at it and see if I can fix it up by the next update.</p><p>Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, I'll see you next time! </p><p>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Eda! Lilith! You're okay!" Luz shouted from the ground, before bolting straight up and throwing her arms around the witches. Eda returned the gesture while Lilith was a bit caught off guard, still not knowing what hugging was.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good to see you're still kicking kid. Thankfully, these knuckleheads managed to find us in our cell, and break us out." Eda stated, while gesturing over to the Blight twins and co. "Oh and here. The kids managed to find your little notebook of glyphs. Surprised Belos didn't destroy it or used it for some other purpose." Eda pulled Luz's notebook from her pocket, and handed it to the human.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>They all heard a grunt from across the room, and quickly backed away towards the door. The Emperor got back up on his feet, and everyone could see the fury in his eyes. The blue irises that glowed beneath his mask now changed to a dark red. He glared at the group that was staring back, and gave a fake chuckle.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"I see there was more than I expected down here." He hissed, looking around at everyone. "You all made a big mistake coming down here. There's no turning back now." He gestured his hand towards the group.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"We need to get out of here. He will pull no punches with any of us!" Lilith said, looking at the kids, but Amity limped forwards in front of them. "We can't. Not yet." Amity said, causing the group apart from Luz and King to give a shocked look. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you mean Amity?! We have them, let's get going before we die down here!" Edric shouted, looking back and forth at the Emperor and Amity. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"He has that portal fixed up." Amity pointed towards the glass window, displaying the portal. "He is gonna invade not only Luz's realm, but every other realm he can get to." Amity said, getting a surprised response from everyone who didn't know. "We have to get that portal back, before he can use it."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"It would be cute to see you try that." The Emperor said, laughing at the idea of getting the portal taken from him. The rest of the group looked on with horror, but in the midst of it, Eda stepped forwards and joined Amity up front.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ain't another realm gonna be a stepping stone in your ruling Belos." Eda hissed, staring up at the Emperor with hatred radiating from her eyes. Belos laughed again.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"With what magic? That curse of yours will do nothing to me." He chuckled, pointing at her gem. Lilith huffed in anger and soon joined the two up front, looking at The Emperor.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"We don't need magic to stop you Belos. Your tyranny will end here." Lilith said, staring up at Belos. At one point in her life, she would've feared her entire life to be talking back to The Emperor, but now, seeing all that he's done to ruin lives, she was ready to die fighting.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon enough, everyone else stepped forwards, feeling the confidence fill their souls, as they were about to enter the most deadly fight ever. They knew they wouldn't be able to take down Belos, but that wasn't their goal. All they needed to do was get him down long enough to get the portal back, and escape.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"This should be fun. You all are about to experience hell in the worst way possible." Belos stated, as he took one step forwards and stared down at the group of rebels that stood in front of him. Amity stepped closer, and stared him right in the eyes.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come and bring it then."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>That comment was what drove the Emperor over. Immediately, he summoned a legion of mini demons right in front of him, and they ran straight for the group. Amity summoned an abomination and crushed a bunch of them that ran towards her. Luz summoned a bunch of fire spells in the form of balls, and hurled them at a bunch, causing them to burst into flames. Willow summoned a bunch of thorns that surrounded the room, knocking every one that came across the vines down, and the rest of the group used their fist and any weapons they could find lying around to get the job done. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The Emperor chuckled, before summoning a huge hand right next to the group and swiped them forwards. Everyone crashed down on the ground, and the Emperor looked towards Gus, who landed in front of him. He gave a laugh at the kid below him.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Should've just stayed on the bus kid." He said, before summoning a rock spike to shoot up straight through him. To his surprise, the kid just disappeared in a blue cloud. An illusion. Looking back up, he saw that thd real Gus was around everyone else, as they got back up.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is that all you got?!" Eda shouted, making a face at the Emperor that made his eyes glow brighter.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're defensive, I'll give you that." He said, before summoning a ring of fire around the group. "But how long can you keep it up?" </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around for an exit, they saw shadows of the Emperor running around the outside. Using spells, they tried to hit Belos with any range attack, but each time they did, the shadow disappeared, and the Emperor kept laughing. Suddenly, he appeared right in front of the group within the fire, with a chuckle.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Surprise." </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The fire quickly disappeared, and a force spell was immediately casted where Belos was. The group flew back towards the main door, and everyone slowly rolled in pain. The Emperor looked at them with a laugh. "You all don't know when to stop do you?"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around, Eda's attention was directed towards King, who was trying to whisper to her. Eda leaned in, listened to him, and smiled. "Alright King, let's do it."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The Emperor walked up to the group slowly standing up again. He took a gander of them holding parts that hurt, and felt satisfied by it. "Giving up already? I was just starting to have fun." He said sarcastically, but then saw Eda step forward from the doorway.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not even close." As she said this, she hoisted King up from the ground, and hurled him towards the Emperor. He points his claws directly towards Belos, but he made a chuckle before disappearing in front of him. King fell back to the ground with a grunt. Belos reappeared behind Eda in the doorframe and laughed once again. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Interesting move I must say." He was about to pull another force spell on Eda, but he saw her swiftly step out of the way, with her staff in her hand, twirling it. She made a smirk at the Emperor, who was caught off guard. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Surprise."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A sound erupted from behind Belos as Eda slammed her staff on the ground, and he turned to only find three plant glyphs from Luz planted on the wall, aiming towards the door frame. Belos couldn't do anything in time to dodge the barrage of thorns that shot through the door. He flew to the back of the room, and crashed into the rock wall. Luz laughed while Eda gave her a high five. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good thinking kid. With tactics like that, we'll easily be able to bring the Emperor down soon." Eda said, before feeling the ground shake. Looking at the back of the room, they saw the thorns pinning the Emperor catch on fire, and immediately disintegrated, leaving ash on the ground. Belos stood back up, with blood red eyes glaring back at the group.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've had enough. It's time to end this." He boomed before casting multiple spells for rock spikes to shoot up from the ground. The group managed to stay on the defensive, dodging every spot that shot up a spike, and maneuvered through the room as it filled with spikes. Amity looked towards Luz and Eda, and ran up to them. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Luz! Give me some fire glyphs now! Eda, when I say, I want you to activate them!" Amity shouted, looking at the two before they nodded. Amity summoned an abomination, and with the fire glyphs, she threw them on it's back and commanded it. The glump of slime charged towards The Emperor and he saw it coming. He stood still, waiting for the abomination to get to him, and right as it was about to reach his body, he froze it in place. He looked down at Amity, before realizing what was happening.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eda NOW!" </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The abomination immediately exploded in front of Belos, causing him to stumble back in pain. Fire slowly burned his clothing, but he gained control of himself again and patted it out. With a grunt, he charged towards the group, and swiftly summoned another arm to swipe them down, but once again, the group disappeared in a cloud of blue. Another illusion.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Furious, he looked around, and saw the group was now standing behind him. Gus, Edric and Emira looked at each other and smiled, before casting a big spell upon the whole room. Multiple versions of everyone quickly appeared, filling up the room full of illusions. Belos looked around in surprise. The room was packed, and he had no idea where the real versions were.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>He made a defying scream, before summoning a load of spells. The illusions didn't take any effect this time by the Emperor's attacks. They started running towards him, in the hopes of keeping him distracted, and it worked. The Emperor wasn't thinking straight anymore. Anger and rage blinded him, and he went on a rampage burning, stabbing and otherwise "killing" all of the illusions, even when nothing changed.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>As he circled the room, distracted by all the illusions, the real group all stuck together, traversing the room, hidden under the illusions. They came up with a plan to knock him down. They knew what they were gonna do. They nodded together and quickly split off.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A shout from Luz drew the Emperor's attention towards the center of the room. He saw the human waving her hands up to grab his attention. He swiftly turned around and summoned fire around her. Right before he closed the flames on her, he was hit in the back of the head with a thorn vine. Turning around again, he saw Willow, also throwing her hands up. Walking towards her now, he casted ice spikes, slowly rising towards her, and right as he was gonna shoot them through her, he felt his leg get slashed by something below him.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking down, he saw King, running along the ground, away from the Emperor. This time, the Emperor couldn't do anything. An ice spike poked into him from the side, causing him to look down to see Lilith and Eda planting a bunch of ice glyphs on the wall below him. He lifted his leg to kick them down, but Eda quickly slammed her staff down, and the ice rods shot out from the paper, and knocked him down onto the ground.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could get up, he saw a huge abomination drop on top of him and start punching him. Looking around, he noticed Amity with her arms outstretched towards them. Taking the hits, Belos once again disappeared, and appeared behind Amity. He summoned fire beneath the witch, but it was revealed that it was another illusion. The illusion winked, and an ice spike shot through her and into his arm. Grunting, he felt his rage go beyond his line, and with one shout, fire emanated from him. The ice immediately melted from his arm, and a fire wave shot through the room, going through all of the illusions, and forcing the real ones to duck to the ground. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Luz quickly got back to her feet, and threw two plant glyphs right next to Belos. Vines shot up from the paper and wrapped themselves around his arm. He quickly ripped them away, but soon enough, more thorns appeared from the walls, hitting the Emperor all around the room. Some he was able to dodge, others he wasn't able to. He shot around like a ping pong ball and fell back to the ground, coughing from all the hits.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey Emperor, You ready to give up?" Gus shouted from behind him, fueling more rage in him. In the blink of an eye, he shot up from the ground, and stared at the ground with pure red eyes. Gus looked up with a hint of concern, and the Emperor took one step forwards.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME DOWN KID? NO ONE HAS AND NO ONE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO. YOU WILL DIE TRYING." The Emperor shouted, his voice sounded rabid. It wasn't in his normal voice. He sounded more monster, and his appearance showed that. Claws grew on him, and he quickly lunged at the boy, with the intention of slicing him to pieces. He saw nothing but red. He was in pure rage. He wanted nothing more than to kill these rebels. He wanted to make them suffer, and wanted them to die horrifically, for getting out of order.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>One smirk from the young witch instantly told the Emperor he made a mistake. All of the illusions suddenly disappeared, leaving the room mostly empty once again. In front of the Emperor now was a bunch of plant glyphs from Luz, and she looked up with a smile.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"This is for all that you've done to me and everyone I love."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>With one swift tap, all of the glyphs activated, and a string of thorns shot up from the ground, giving the Emperor a huge uppercut to the face. He flew backwards, hitting the ceiling with a huge thud, and tumbled back down towards the ground and crashed into the rocky floor below. He showed no sign of moving. His limbs twitched randomly as he laid there on the ground, unconscious.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The group all looked at each other, and gave a smile, and cheered. This lasted for a second, as they now looked back at the portal room, seeing it charge up some more.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come on, we gotta get that portal and get out of here quickly. We don't know how long he'll be out for." Luz said, pointing at the glass. The group nodded in union, and rushed out the door and proceeded through the door to the left. They opened it and entered the wide room. They looked at the massive portal in front of them. It gave them chills down their spines. They were grateful that they were stopping this mission now. They didn't want to see what he was planning to do.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, let's hope this still works." Luz said as she pulled from under her hoodie a key. The same key that would open and close the portal. She walked up to the door, and pressed it, and watched as the machine in front of her shaked with error. Plates of metal crashed down onto the ground, and the door lifted off the ground. The machine shook more, with screws falling to the ground and the door disappeared in front of them, as the rest of the portal collapsed to the ground.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, we got it, now let's get out of-" Lilith said before a noise to their backs cut her off. Sounds of rumbling could be heard from behind, and through the window, they saw the white cloth of the Emperor, standing back up. He peered through the glass, and saw the portal now destroyed, with the group standing around it. They saw him starting to bash the window a couple of times, and the group stumbled back. He stopped after a moment, and gave the group one last stare.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Run!"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The group looked to the right and saw stairs leading up to another level. Amity hobbled to the stairs, the pain thriving throughout her entire body. It was borderline unbearable and Amity barely kept herself together, but Lilith rushed over to her and hoisted the witch onto her back. Lilith gave a slight smile to the witch, and despite their previous interaction was a bit of a mess up, she wanted to fix her relationship with Amity. She genuinely cared about the witch. Amity took surprise, but smiled at the gesture as they ran up the stairs for freedom.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Back in the room, The Emperor stared down at the stairs they just ran up. He backed away from the window, seeing the cracks he formed within it. He turned out of the room and summoned a communications device in his hands, and spoke into it.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Calling all guards, the prisoners escaped, they're heading up towards the portal stairs now. Do not let them escape. Any means necessary."</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>And with that, he marched towards the stairs, slamming the door shut behind him. Meanwhile, the group breached the surface of the stairwell and are greeted to the sound of sirens.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Lockdown.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking at the hallways, they see guards rushing their position, armed with weapons. They had orders to kill, and were on their way to fulfill that job. Both sides were blocked off, as they slowly closed in on the area. The group started to get ready for another battle, but Eda looked around and noticed something. She brandished her staff in front, catching the attention of everyone.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Everybody, grab on with your life! We are going for one bumpy ride." Eda shouted, looking back. The group looked on with mild confusion until they saw it too. The only way out.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>A nearby window.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Everybody grabbed a part of the staff and clinged on. Eda then pointed straight for the window and gave a smirk to the guards rushing in. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"GUN IT!"</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The staff came to life, levitating off the ground, and flew straight through the window with full force. The window shattered into pieces, but Eda took up most of the shards raining down. Only mild damage was done to her, as she focused on getting out as fast as she could. A guard from inside managed to grab onto Amity's crutch, but before he could connect his other arm to Amity herself, she let go of her only way to walk, and they zoomed out of the hallway. Guards from all around outside threw spears and casted spells towards the group, but it was no use to them. With Eda behind the controls, she flew away at top speed, becoming a blur to everyone else.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Stepping out the main gates, watching the group escape was the Emperor and Kiki. Kiki noticed how damaged the Emperor was, noting the ripped clothing, and a missing horn from his mask.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Messiah, what are we gonna do now with those criminals out on the run again?" She asked, concerned.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The Emperor responded with silence. His attention remained on the group flying away, becoming smaller in the distance.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Messiah?" Kiki asked again, growing more concerned. The Emperor slowly looked down at her, with his eyes still glowing red with anger. Kiki shifted back a little, feeling the anger radiate from him.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Get back inside. Gather the toughest elites you can find, and tell them to meet me in the throne room. We'll let them run now, but they'll be back soon. Soon enough." He started chuckling, thinking back on the Blights that were involved. "And don't worry, I know some people who can help too." He let out another sinister chuckle as he turned back to the castle.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"Contact the Blights. Tell them to meet me here as well." He stated, as he and Kiki both entered the castle. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>"They will be in for some news."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Once again, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. It was a big one to write and I hope I did good with it. </p><p>A little reminder to my other stories I have written on here. My one off Amity and Luz story, Where it Hurts The Most and my recent one off story of Eda and Lilith, Within the Walls. The latter of which is connected to Missing! If you haven't checked that out, you should give it a read at some point! They were fun to write and it would mean alot. Now I wanna discuss the next major thing that's happening. </p><p>If you guys haven't noticed from the top, there is only ONE CHAPTER LEFT. One more chapter until it is over. I honestly can't believe this simple fanfic idea turned into something like this! It's really been so fun talking to all of you guys, discussing in the comments and just giving you guys something to look forwards too. I'll do my thank yous and all of that for the last chapter, but it has been really fun.</p><p>The final chapter will be released on December 1st, my birthday actually, so look forwards for that, I'll make sure I'll have it uploaded at the right time! Anyways I hope you all enjoyed it, I'll see you then! </p><p>-CircularCreations</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone! Welcome to the last chapter of Missing! I can't believe we're at the end...it's been a ride honestly. I'll discuss more about it at the end.</p><p>Anyways I hope you all enjoy the ending of this story, it was real fun working on this for the past months, and I really appreciate the support and love I got while making this story. I'll continue my thank yous at the end as well.</p><p>I'm done rambling now, I hope you all enjoy this! I'll talk to you later! </p><p>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Somewhere in the forest was a house shattered to pieces. Windows broken, the front door on the ground and black marks all around the house. The inside was no better. Wooden beams hung from above, glass pieces coated the floor, and valuables were everywhere. This was the house criminals were taken from, and 24 hours later, those same criminals returned, having escaped the grip of the Emperor.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Landing in front of the shattered home brought back many uneasy memories to the inhabitants of it, along with Amity. The memories that came from the sight in front of them made them sigh, but they soon all looked back up with a hint of confidence. They are back after all.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Amity hopped off the staff, and tried to balance herself on one foot. With a broken leg that was shooting with pain, and without a crutch, she couldn't walk. She tried to hop her way forward, but the sudden jumping made her leg bob, which made her leg ache in extreme pain. She tumbled forwards from the pain, and was about to fall on the ground, but someone swiftly grabbed her arm, and pulled her back up. Looking back, she saw it was Luz, as she proceeded to wrap her arm around the human's neck, making herself a crutch for Amity. The witch blushed at this, as well as Luz.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>The group walked forwards to the house, only to hear a sudden high pitched voice come from the house. A gasp came from the group in shock, only to remember who it was.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Hooty was now conscious, and as the group approached him, they saw his frown turn into a gasp.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Well look who it is! It's my friends hoot hoot!" He said excitedly, as the group looked down on him with a smile.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Surprising to see you still kicking around." Eda said with a smirk, while Hooty made a little chuckle.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Well, I am what you call a resilient little house." He said with a smirk. "Now can someone help me up? It's cold down here!" He yelped.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Eda and Lilith quickly lifted him up and sat him to the side of the house. "You're gonna have to wait on being put back on your hinges. We got other people here that need to be taken care of." Eda said, while walking inside pass Hooty, who gave out a sigh.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Walking inside triggered some more unfortunate memories to the people who were there before. Remembering the events that happened to cause all this damage still haunted Luz, and she started gripping Amity's cloak in fear. Amity rubbed the humans back in hopes of calming her down, and eventually she came back to her senses and relaxed.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Man, we got a lot to clean up in here don't we?" Lilith said with a sigh, taking a look around with everything on the ground. She then noticed that Gus, Willow, and the twins moved up towards her.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Don't worry, you got more than enough help to get this mess sorted." Gus said, with a smile towards Lilith, as the group behind him nodded. Lilith smiled, as she grabbed a nearby broom.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Thank you kids..for everything." Lilith said, while the kids grabbed other cleaning utensils nearby.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"We're all gonna have to be in hiding now after all of that, so we need to stick together and have each other's back." Gus said, as he looked over to Amity and Luz, who nodded at each other at the comment. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"That would be a great help as well. Without magic, we were basically standing there. The more we have, the more we stand a chance of surviving." Eda said as she stepped closer to Lilith and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, giving a smile to her sister.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Well, let's start out by making this place a little better to live in again." Luz said with a chuckle. Hooty then chimed in from the front. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"That would be nice! I'm basically torn apart right now, hoot hoot!" Hooty said, as he wiggled around from within the doorframe. Eda gave a light chuckle as she started to grab things.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Don't worry, we're getting on it now." She said, looking around to see everyone else get started too. She looked over at Luz and Amity, and saw the face Amity made as she tried to move.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Hey, how about you two just sit down and let us handle the work." She said, gesturing at the staircase behind them.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"But-" Luz tried to say more but Eda cut her off.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"She won't be able to do much with that leg of hers, plus I don't think she'd fair being by herself on those steps. Give her some company." Eda said with a smirk, and turned away to join the others with cleaning. Luz started blushing lightly at Eda's words and gave a light chuckle.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Alright Amity, let's take a seat then. Is there anything I could do to make that pain die down?" Luz asked, taking a look at the cast, which now had the holes from The Emperor and light blood that dripped from it. Amity took a sigh as she sat down. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I'll be fine. The pain isn't as bad anymore. Just give it some time and it'll be fine." Amity shrugged off the offer of anything, but saw Luz's face change to a more concerned look and sighed again. "Alright..well if you have any ice, then sure." She mumbled, and Luz's face turned into a smile as she got up. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Gotcha! Give me a minute." She said as she stumbled back into the doorway and disappeared in search of ice. Amity took this time to just close her eyes and reflect. It's been a while since she willingly let herself reflect, but after everything she just went through, she needed to think back.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>It was hard. There was no doubt about it. The past two days have definitely changed her life. She can't fully understand if it's a good thing or bad thing. There's pros and cons to her actions that unfolded today. Getting into the castle and managing to rescue everyone has definitely put a mark on herself, but not just that, a mark on Gus, Willow and her two siblings too. When she first asked for help by everyone, she didn't think of the possible outcome for them, but as she opened her eyes again and looked at the group of kids working on cleaning up, she saw a bunch of criminals, and that made her gut turn. She asked for this, and can't shake the thought of putting them on a hit list because of her. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Looking at her siblings, she also thought about her parents. There's no doubt that they will hear about what happened, if they haven't heard already. She did the best she could to avoid her parents intervening on her plan, or finding out somehow before it even started, and she managed to do that, but she didn't think about afterwards. Them finding out that their kids just invaded the empire, and broke out a bunch of criminals would definitely put some severe consequences on them, and Amity knew that's what their siblings thought about too. She saw it in their eyes. They had a slight hint of fear in them. They knew they were dead when their parents got to them.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>There's a million different reasons why Amity could just sit there and think of all the bad that's to come, but as she sat there, watching Eda and Lilith joke around and seeing Luz come back around from the corner with a bag of ice, she couldn't help but feel accomplished. She saved them. They're still here. They're out of Belos's grip and are in front of her, healing. The damage and injuries that coated them still hurt Amity, but she brushed that feeling off. It didn't matter right now. What mattered was that they were here.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Luz walked over to Amity, and saw that she was in deep thought. She couldn't blame the witch. After everything that has happened in the past 48 hours, some lingering thoughts must've been circling her mind right now. Luz was about to reach out and ask Amity if she was okay, but the witch seemed to have snapped out of it the second Luz reached her hand out.</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"Oh hey..sorry about that." Amity said sheepishly. She rubbed the back of her head as Luz handed her the ice. "Thank you." </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"It's the least I can do...you saved me after all…" Luz lowered her head, as thoughts of her own started to show up, but she shook her head and directed her attention back onto Amity, seeing the girl place the ice over her cast. She smiled at the witch, knowing she did everything she could to get her back. The feelings for the witch haven't changed. In fact they quietly grew since then, but because of today, Luz realized that this wasn't just some crush. She was in love with her, and it was because of the perfectness she saw in her. Amity looked back at Luz and saw the human staring at her with awe, and that caused her to blush slightly.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Uhhhh...Luz? Everything okay..?" Amity asked, feeling the blush on her grow slowly. Without thinking, Luz scotched over and gave Amity a hug. She was first caught off guard by it, but as Luz held onto her cloak, she followed her arms around her back. </p><p>
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</p><p>"Hey Amity?" Luz whispered as she shifted her head on her shoulder.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Y-yeah?" Amity said, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Thank you." Luz dug her face in Amity's shoulder, as she started to grab on tighter. Amity smiled at the girl in front of her, and slowly rubbed her back for comfort.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Anything for you Luz." </p><p>
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</p><p>--------------------</p><p>
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</p><p>It took hours for the house to even remotely look cleaned up again. Without magic, Eda and Lilith couldn't fix much of the infrastructure damage that was scattered around, but they picked up everything that was on the ground, cleaned up the shattered pieces of glass and wood, and cleaned up the mess that went throughout the house. That included the blood stain that was still on the staircase. Amity noticed it again when she and Luz were sitting down at the bottom, and it caused memories to flash in her mind. Seeing her get all spooked, Luz grabbed her hand and reminded her that she was here with her again. That helped the witch calm down, and the fears left her mind once more. </p><p>
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</p><p>By the time the house was presentable again, it was pretty late. The cleanup was time consuming, but nobody complained. The owl house residences went through alot in the past 3 days, they deserved as much help as they could get. When the cleanup finished, Eda allowed the kids to stay over for the night. She knew that it would be a bit packed, but she knew that they couldn't return home, at least right now. They were wanted and the first area that was gonna be searched for them was their homes. Not to mention the parents of the kids would not be happy. Yeah, keeping them away wasn't exactly much better, but if the parents knew what just happened, they'd probably understand.</p><p>
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</p><p>The kids had no problem staying over either. They wanted to stick together with Luz and them. Knowing that they were all targets now, the best thing they could do was to stick together and fight when the time came again. Right now, their main priority was to help out the captured and make sure they were fine. </p><p>
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</p><p>They also got themselves patched up from their injuries. Bandages and ice were given to Eda, Lilith, Luz and Amity. All of them were pretty damaged from the fight, but after getting patched up, they felt a little better. It would take days, if not weeks for their injuries to fully heal, but at least they were covered up.</p><p>
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</p><p>The rest of the night played out relatively calm, although everyone was on edge. They all expected another attack by The Emperor, or his army, but one never came. After a while, Lilith told them that they shouldn't worry at this point, as it was getting late, but that didn't stop them from constantly glancing at the door, and listening, making sure they weren't hearing any sort of sounds that would indicate danger.</p><p>
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</p><p>They all stayed together in the living room, doing activities that would calm them down. Some practiced with spell casting, while others just stuck close to each other. Amity and Luz barely left each other's side. They were basically inseparable, but it went deeper than them being in love. They wanted to keep each other safe and comfortable.</p><p>
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</p><p>Eventually, most of the gang were too tired to stay up any later. Eda and Lilith split off into Eda's room to sleep in, the Blight twins stayed in the living room for sleep, while everyone else crammed into Luz's room to sleep. The Hexside witches tried to stay up late to talk to Luz and have some fun, but tiredness from the day knocked them out quickly. Only one person stayed awake as everyone else passed out, and that person was Luz.</p><p>
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</p><p>She was still scared of another surprise attack. The last one caught her off guard and nearly resulted in her death. Knowing she got away from The Emperor twice now, she knew that he wasn't gonna hold back any longer. Whatever he was planning, he wasn't going to keep any of them alive for long. </p><p>
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</p><p>She sat there, blankly staring at her door, with her notebook of glyphs next to her. She wanted to be ready this time, and she was. She spent a good amount of time sitting there, listening intently, waiting for something to happen.</p><p>
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</p><p>But nothing happened, and the more Luz sat there waiting, the more she realized that.</p><p>
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</p><p>Sighing, she looked down and took a moment to just breath. She needed to calm down. She wasn't gonna get anywhere overreacting to something that won't be happening, at least tonight. She looked over at everyone sleeping. Seeing Gus on the left side of the room, curled up under the blanket Eda gave him, then seeing Willow, lying on her back on the opposite side of the room. She looked down at the edge of her little foam bed to see King curled up at the edge of her blanket, also passed out. Luz then looked to her right, and saw Amity under the same blanket as her, in deep sleep. Luz smiled at the witch, seeing how comfortable she was sleeping. She needed it, Luz thought, Amity's been through alot.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz then remembered that Amity gave back her phone, and she knew that she needed to do something. She hasn't made one since she got captured, so she decided it was best to make another one to express what had just happened.</p><p>
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</p><p>Opening up her phone, she went into her camera, held it away from her, and pressed the record button.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Uh..hey me, guess who's still alive? Me clearly." Luz whispered, making sure that she wasn't talking too loud to wake anyone up. "I'm back. I know, crazy right?" Luz threw her free hand up as she questioned at the camera. "How am I possibly still alive against all odds? Well….it's because of her.."</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz then tilted the camera to point towards Amity, who was still passed out next to Luz. The human made a light giggle, blushing at the witch who slept next to her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"She discovered what happened to me, because of my last video...and banded together everyone she could to get me and everyone else out." She then panned the camera around the room to show Gus and Willow, also still passed out. She sighed as she turned the camera back at her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"They all saved me. They stormed into the castle, and got me and everyone else out, but not only that. We showed the Emperor who's boss and got the portal back. He tried to use it to invade other worlds, but we got it back." Luz said, smirking at the camera as she remembered the uppercut she gave The Emperor with the thorns. Her smile slowly dropped as she remembered that they were all main targets now.</p><p>
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</p><p>"But now we're bigger targets than we ever were. I don't know what he's got planned, but I know he's going to use everything in his power to get the portal back, and to kill us.." Luz looked down, and felt the thoughts linger up her brain, but she shook her head and looked back up.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I shouldn't be too worried though. Everyone is sticking together, and we will fight for our lives against Belos. He's not going to get the best of us this time. Whatever he's got planned for us, we can handle it." </p><p>
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</p><p>She looked back down at Amity, who somehow looked even more peaceful in sleep, and smiled at the witch. It was all because of her that Luz was alive. The strength she had was unrivaled by anyone to Luz and she knew she wouldn't be able to thank the witch enough for her courageous act.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Well..I guess that's all I have to say right now. I'll keep you updated if anything comes up. Wish us luck. See ya later." </p><p>
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</p><p>Luz clicked the record button again, and the video closed out and was added to her video diaries album, but as she watched the video get added to her entries, she noticed something. A video that she didn't record. It didn't show Luz either. To the girl's surprise, she saw that it had the thumbnail of Amity, and she looked completely distraught. Luz felt her heart beat faster, confused as to what the video was about. She looked down at Amity and wondered why she would even record a video on her phone. It didn't make sense to Luz, unless…</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity was wanting to give her a message later on.</p><p>
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</p><p>Looking down at the witch once more, she took a deep breath and turned down her volume to make sure she didn't wake up anyone with it. She looked at the video once more, and before she could second guess in her decision, she clicked on the video. It took a second to load, but once it did, it showed Amity in her room, looking down at the phone, with a slightly down, but flustered look.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Uhh, is thing on?" Amity said to the screen, as she took a minute to process what was happening. Luz saw Amity shrug through the screen, before leaning back a bit.  "I hope it's good." The witch chuckled, and it made Luz chuckle a little bit too.</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity then took a deep breath, before she looked back at the screen. "Alright Luz, I can't lie to you. I went through your...human device and saw some of your videos. I saw your grom video specifically….and heard about what happened back in your world. I'm sorry you felt so alone. I didn't know you were that alone before you came here. If I knew that, I would've given you a better chance at the start." Amity said, as she blinked rapidly, fighting back the tears that tried to break through her. </p><p>
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</p><p>Luz's mouth dropped open, as she started to blush hard. She began to feel fear grab a hold of her. '<em>Amity saw</em> <em>my video? She heard what I said? Does that mean she knows how I feel?' </em>These thoughts invaded Luz's mind, and more were gonna come if Luz didn't realize that Amity was apologizing to her. She saw the sadness that came from the witch and felt her heart sting. She must've been bottling this up if it was getting to her this much. Luz shook her head, and refocused on the video as it continued to play out.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Luz, I just want to say that you are the most incredible and amazing person I've ever met. You have stuck with me, even though I treated you so harshly…and i-i'm so sorry for treating you that way...you didn't deserve it.." Amity said to the camera, before tears were shown filling the witches eyes. Luz felt herself get emotional too. It hurt her to see her friend be in such pain. She felt sorry for the witch, as she continued to let tears fall from her face, not showing any sign of preventing it.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Y-You have made me into such a better person...honestly I can't imagine how I would be without you showing me my true side again….I know I wouldn't be the person I am now." Amity continued, dropping her head to compose herself on the other side of the phone. Luz smiled lightly, as she felt her heart beat faster. She was glad to see the impact she made on Amity. It made her feel real special, knowing that someone cares about her as much as Amity does. She then saw Amity look back up with her face lit up with light blush, and Luz started to feel herself fall into the same situation.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Luz...I heard your feelings toward me...all the nice things you said...and how you truly feel….you don't need to be scared...I feel the same way....I love you Luz. I really do love you. I honestly can't stop admiring how..perfect you are. You're truly the most pure person I've ever met. You have such a fun personality. You're always fun to talk to, and to be myself around...and you are just so sweet. Despite me being harsh at times…you stuck with me. You stuck with me even when I did bad stuff...like with Willow..and you took my place as Grom Queen without a second thought...you were my Fearless Champion Luz...and I greatly appreciate that..." Amity said through the screen, as more tears rolled down her face.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz's face lit up with a deep shade of red. She covered her mouth with her hand as she felt tears fill her eyes from the information she was just given. Amity loved her too? She couldn't believe it. Someone that she saw as perfect and amazing loved her. She viewed herself as worthless and a mess, and she would like to believe that was the case, but hearing Amity say all these nice things that she has never heard from anyone else in her life hit her in the core real deep. Hearing Amity say that she was "Her Fearless Champion" as well made her so happy. Tears began to drip down her eyes as she felt her joy slowly overtake her body. She quietly choked on some sobs, before wiping her eyes and slowing her breathing. She needed to calm down if she wanted to watch the rest of the video.</p><p>
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</p><p>"You may be g-gone now….with the Emperor...but I am coming for you. I'm coming to get you and everyone else in there out. I'm gonna rescue you, because you matter Luz." Amity said, as she let a few more tears drop down her face, with a confident smile, that made Luz smile back just as hard. Amity kept that promise, and now she was here with her.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I will see you soon Luz, and I hope after I get you out, you will see this video, and see how I truly feel…...I love you...thank you for giving me a chance Luz."</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity wiped her eyes in the video, before her arm reached towards the camera, and the video ended.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz was at a loss for words. Her entire mind was in a different place. She was so full of joy and happiness that her body shook lightly. She couldn't stop it. Her entire body thrived with the happiness that she felt in her core. Tears started to fill her eyes once again, as she held her hands close to her heart. She wished she was alone right now, so she could grab a pillow and squeal as hard as she could. She could really use it.</p><p>
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</p><p>After a minute, she felt herself calm down. Her body stopped shaking and she wiped the tears away from her eyes. She sighed as she looked up, before drawing her attention to the witch right next to her. She faced Luz's direction as she slept. She was so at peace in her sleep, and Luz couldn't get that out of her head. She lowered herself on her side, facing Amity, staring her right in the face. She just admired the witch right next to her. She blushed as she stared at her face, seeing the beauty and cuteness that came from it. Luz giggled lightly, as she scooted a little bit closer to Amity, and soon she did it again, and kept doing it until she was really close.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz breathed lightly, as to not wake up Amity and disturb her. She felt her heart skip many beats, as she stared in awe at Amity's face. She looked up at her undone hair, as it drooped down her face, and looked down at her hands, as they laid flatly on the bed. Luz started to blush as her mind and eyes put their attention on her lips. Her heart started to beat faster as she thought about them. How soft they looked, and how they were just there, waiting. Waiting for something.</p><p>
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</p><p>Waiting for a kiss.</p><p>
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</p><p>Luz felt herself lose it in that moment. Slowly, she lifted her left arm, and slowly guided it to Amity's face. She lightly rested her hand on the side of her face, rubbing it, and Amity didn't budge. The witch was knocked out, and Luz started to come in closer. She felt Amity's hot breath hit her face as she leaned in, and closed her eyes.</p><p>
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</p><p>"Thank you."</p><p>
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</p><p>Taking a breath, Luz lightly pushed through and connected her lips to Amity's. She only stayed there for a second, but that second felt like a lifetime to Luz. She felt the warm sensation shock through her like electricity, and her heart froze as she embraced in the kiss. There were many times where Luz wished time would just stop, but this moment right here, giving Amity a kiss while she slept had Luz begging internally for this to go on forever.</p><p>
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</p><p>Coming back to her senses, she jumped back lightly, and she started to get a bit nervous. She looked at Amity with a hint of fear, but she calmed down after a second. Amity stayed in the same spot, still asleep. Luz took a sigh of relief, before yawning. Sleep was now getting to her. </p><p>
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</p><p>Stretching her arms, Luz slowly tucked herself under the blanket, and turned towards Amity once more. She felt blush creep up on her again, and she lightly giggled. She was no longer scared. She no longer had any worry of a surprise attack. Her mind was in a happier place. Whatever happens in the future, Luz knew one thing: Amity, and her friends would have her back, no matter what.</p><p>
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</p><p>She scotched over towards Amity again, and snuggled up right next to her. Under the blanket, she took her hand, and interlaced her fingers with her. She giggled and looked back up at Amity.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I love you." Luz quietly said, before she closed her eyes and let sleep take her in.</p><p>
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</p><p>As the human slept soundly, a shuffle was seen next to her. Amity slowly opened her eyes and smiled. She heard everything, and felt everything too. She blushed hard, seeing Luz right next to her, sleeping with their hands together. Amity giggled at the human, before looking at her in the face.</p><p>
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</p><p>"I love you too."</p><p>
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</p><p>Amity laid her head back on the pillow, facing Luz, and closed her eyes again. Sleep was about to grab a hold of her, but before it did, Amity leaned in and gave the human a kiss on the forehead. She saw the girl blush in her sleep, and giggled.  </p><p>
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</p><p>Amity had Luz back, and nothing was going to change that fact. She will do anything to keep the human safe, even if it meant danger upon herself. She didn't care. The only thing that mattered in her life now was Luz, and she will defend Luz <em> with </em> her own life.</p><p>
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</p><p>The witch soon fell asleep, and felt Luz wrap her arm around Amity, and that kept a smile on her throughout the night. The smile Amity gets whenever she's around Luz. The smile that reassures Amity everything may be okay. The smile that makes her feel whole again.</p><p>
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</p><p>And despite everything the two had gone through, they smiled through it all, knowing they got to live for another day.</p><p>
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</p><p>End of Part 1</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And there we have it, Missing is not entirely over just yet! There's so much more I can do with the story and AU, but I'll get to that in a second.</p><p>This story was so much fun to make over these past few months. Honestly I started writing this story for my own enjoyment and entertainment because I love the show as much as everyone in this community does, but the amount of support I've gotten over the chapters I have released was just mind boggling.</p><p>I just want to give a thanks to every single one of you that spent the time out of your day to read this story I randomly came up with at 2 am. You guys have made writing and publishing this story mean so much more to me, because it meant that I was giving entertainment to you.</p><p>I wanna give a special thank you to garseeyarts as well, the author of "Bad" and "Here to Help" on here. Here to Help was a big inspiration for me to go through with this story. The amount of fun you have writing that story had me wanting the same feeling as well, and not to mention you're just a really nice person. You have been a real chill and respectable person to just chat with over on instagram and you also made publishing these chapters a little more special as well. Thank you for reading this along with everyone else. Thank you for being such a wonderful person and friend, and thank you for writing Here to Help. If I hadn't discovered your story, this probably wouldn't have existed, so thank you so much for helping me get there Alex!</p><p>As much as this ending for this part would be a really good ending for the story in general, there's so much more I can do with it. The whole gang is basically on the run now, and Belos isn't happy with it. He isn't gonna pull any punches if it means getting them killed.  I can also use the next part to expand on Luz and Amity as now Luz knows the truth. I don't think I'm gonna make them official just yet either. I'm probably gonna make them even more awkward as they don't know if the other knows what happened that night. There's also the Blight Parents as well. I know one of the disappointments for this story was the lack of interactions with the Blight Parents themselves. Well I really wanted to focus solely on the kids and captured for this, as I wanted to go through their dynamics and interactions with each other in this situation, but I can promise you that in Part 2 (or whatever I name it), they will have much more of an appearance and threat towards the gang.</p><p>I haven't written anything in terms of the next part, nor do I intend it to be the next thing I do. I might do another Amity and Luz story because those are fun. Not sure if I'll do something with an AU for that or just a one off. Not gonna lie, I like alot of the human realm high school comics and AUs I see, so I may make my own version of that.</p><p>Anyways guys, that's all I need to say, thank you so much for reading Missing. It's been fun writing this for you all. </p><p>For future info about future stories that I will do, check out my Instagram @_circularcreations_ I usually post on my story with new info on new projects, but I will occasionally make drawings for them as well. So look out for that.</p><p>Anyways guys, I'll see you all next time, thank you all for reading. It's been an honor. Peace out!</p><p>-CircularCreations</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Lost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a brief look into the beginning of Hidden for any viewer on here that didn't see it yet.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello everyone, I present to you the first few paragraphs of the first chapter of Hidden, the Missing sequel.</p>
<p>Nothing much I should add, I just figured I'd show off the first few chapters to viewers here that are notified. There will be a link below for the story.</p>
<p>Anyways, I'll see you guys there!</p>
<p>-CircularCreations</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a weird feeling, sleeping with the knowledge she was out on the run. That’s something Luz could not shake off, even in her sleep. Even though she managed to get some sleep, she still felt off with herself.</p>
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<p>She always felt that way, whether it be at home, or here. She always felt off no matter what, but this is different. She got away with her <em> life. </em>She managed to escape the grip of death along with everyone else, but as she tried her best to sleep, she couldn’t shake the ever growing feeling that congregated in her gut.</p>
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<p>They were dead the second Belos got to them.</p>
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<p>There was no doubt about it. They were going to die if they got caught once again. It scared Luz, but not because of her own safety, but for the safety of the people around her.</p>
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<p>She pretty much found a new family when she came to the Isles. Despite it being only her, Eda and King at first, she started meeting more and more people, and eventually after the rescue (both of them) her little family has grown.</p>
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<p>But now they were targets, and it was all Luz’s fault.</p>
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<p>She felt like she could’ve prevented it. All she had to do was to not snoop around in the Castle, not have been caught by Lilith. She felt so stupid for getting caught, but a more dark thought lingered her mind, one that she didn’t want to think but did regardless.</p>
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<p>Maybe if she went back home when it was offered to her in the beginning. </p>
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<p>Luz didn’t belong here. She shouldn’t even be here in the first place. She should be at summer camp, doing things there instead. Sure, it would suck, and most likely kill her internally, but it probably meant no one here was going to get hurt.</p>
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<p>She shuffled in her sleep, back and forth. She thought she was going crazy. It felt like she was being attacked once again. She thought she heard loud explosions and banging like before. She thought she felt shuffling next to her, and random shouts droning on in the distance, but she couldn’t make it out. She felt so numb from all the emotions that everything else was muffled.</p>
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<p>But it felt real...too real. They were persistent, and it sounded like the noise was getting closer. Ever so slightly, she became more and more agitated in her sleep. She started to sweat, thinking her dream was really getting intense, but it only took one more ear deafening sound to finally wake Luz up from her nightmare. Well, that’s what she thought she had, but as she sat up, her world started to shake, and her heart dropped.  </p>
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<p>The world shook violently. A barrage of endless explosions and banging sounds rocked everything around her. Smoke started entering her window as she leaned over. Grabbing her patch of glyphs, Luz knew what was happening. They were back, and they weren't holding back. They were on the hunt. They were out for blood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30698789/chapters/75753854</p>
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